ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Shares Up 3.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) traded up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The company traded as high as $22.75 and last traded at $22.44. 376,453 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 2,372,912 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.69.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ACAD. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, May 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.83.

Insider Activity at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider James Kihara sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.50, for a total transaction of $90,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,395 shares in the company, valued at $458,887.50. This represents a 16.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Garofalo sold 4,919 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total value of $89,673.37. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $320,756.85. This represents a 21.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,746 shares of company stock valued at $428,221. 26.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 231.5% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,317 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.71% of the company's stock.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.18 and a beta of 0.47. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $16.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.33.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 25.83% and a net margin of 13.83%. The firm had revenue of $244.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.