ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest in ACADIA rose 23.4% in March to 10,638,508 shares (about 8.5% of shares sold short), with a days-to-cover ratio of 4.9 based on average volume.
• Company insiders sold 10,689 shares valued at $245,497 over the last three months (including two EVP sales), though insiders still own 26.50% of the company.
• Analysts are broadly positive—average rating "Moderate Buy" with a $31.21 mean target—and ACADIA recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.60 vs. $0.12) with $298 million in revenue.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 10,638,508 shares, a growth of 23.4% from the March 15th total of 8,624,024 shares. Approximately 8.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,158,686 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACAD. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, February 23rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upgraded ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.21.

Insider Transactions at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Jennifer J. Rhodes sold 6,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.38, for a total value of $162,491.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,609 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $177,898.42. This represents a 47.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 2,709 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.20, for a total transaction of $60,139.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 62,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,394,959.20. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 10,689 shares of company stock valued at $245,497 in the last three months. Company insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,113,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $29,729,000 after acquiring an additional 76,727 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 847,961 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $22,649,000 after acquiring an additional 107,386 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 57,274 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 3,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 25,170 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 4,729 shares during the last quarter. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:ACAD opened at $21.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 21.94 and a beta of 0.83. The stock's 50-day moving average is $22.36 and its 200-day moving average is $23.78. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $14.08 and a 1-year high of $28.35.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $1.48. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 36.49%.The company had revenue of $298.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $292.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

About ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Established in 1993 and headquartered in San Diego, California, ACADIA's research centers concentrate on conditions with significant unmet medical needs, including Parkinson's disease psychosis, Alzheimer's disease psychosis, and schizophrenia. The company utilizes a range of scientific platforms, including selective receptor modulation and precision-targeted compounds, to advance its portfolio of small-molecule therapeutics.

The company's flagship product, NUPLAZID® (pimavanserin), received U.S.

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