ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Earns "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals and set a $35 price target, implying approximately 83% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with 13 Buy and five Hold ratings, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $31.34.
• ACADIA exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.18 EPS versus a $0.07 consensus estimate and $308 million in revenue, up 16.4% year over year.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $35.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 83.05% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings raised ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $14.50 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.34.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ACAD opened at $19.12 on Monday. The company's fifty day moving average is $25.53 and its 200-day moving average is $24.04. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $18.39 and a 52 week high of $30.96. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 0.88.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.11. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 33.42% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The business had revenue of $308.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $296.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other ACADIA Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Elizabeth Thompson sold 16,558 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.13, for a total value of $432,660.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $496,313.22. The trade was a 46.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Schneyer sold 14,292 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.22, for a total transaction of $417,612.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,981,934.16. This represents a 17.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 36,699 shares of company stock valued at $1,019,894 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 26.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $569,634,000. Palo Alto Investors LP bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,461,629. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,900,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,343,868 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $74,435,000 after buying an additional 1,073,834 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $19,244,000. Institutional investors own 96.71% of the company's stock.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for central nervous system disorders and rare diseases. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and serves patients and healthcare providers primarily in the United States.

ACADIA's commercial products include NUPLAZID (pimavanserin), an atypical antipsychotic approved in the United States for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis.