D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Trims Holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,241,406 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 263,551 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 1.95% of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals worth $59,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,947,640 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $255,939,000 after buying an additional 104,444 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,700,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $49,547,000 after purchasing an additional 574,251 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 380.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,483,731 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $45,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966,607 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $25,555,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,232,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $22,614,000 after acquiring an additional 106,236 shares in the last quarter. 96.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ACAD. UBS Group dropped their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com downgraded ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Elizabeth A. Garofalo sold 4,919 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total transaction of $89,673.37. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $320,756.85. This represents a 21.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 3,498 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total value of $51,070.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $916,485.80. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,994 shares of company stock worth $313,131. 26.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of ACAD traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,310,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,857,350. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05 and a beta of 0.47. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.40 and a 1-year high of $20.68. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $15.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.00.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 25.83%. The firm had revenue of $244.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.32 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current 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.