ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• ACADIA Pharmaceuticals' stock price gapped down from $23.60 to $20.82 after Needham & Company reduced its price target from $30.00 to $28.00, but retains a buy rating on the stock.
• The company reported earnings of $0.16 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, while revenue increased by 9.4% year-over-year.
• Insiders have sold a total of 27,098 shares in the past 90 days, indicating a decrease in their ownership, while institutional investors hold 96.71% of the company's stock.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $28.00. The stock had previously closed at $23.60, but opened at $20.82. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $21.09, with a volume of 1,141,087 shares traded.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded ACADIA Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 3,498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.65, for a total value of $82,727.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,447 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,521.55. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Garofalo sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.98, for a total value of $41,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $659,424.36. The trade was a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,098 shares of company stock valued at $678,256 over the last 90 days. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 36,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $785,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 91,067 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,964,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 4,260 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 46,773 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,465 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 11.0%

The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 0.75. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $24.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.62.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $264.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $263.07 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The business's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization innovative medicines that address unmet medical needs in central nervous system (CNS) disorders and rare diseases in the United States. The company offers NUPLAZID (pimavanserin) for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis; and DAYBUE, a novel synthetic analog of the amino-terminal tripeptide of insulin-like growth factor 1 for treatment of Rett Syndrome.

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