Pacer Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, purchasing 16,224 shares valued at approximately $269,000 during the first quarter.
• ACADIA Pharmaceuticals' stock currently has a market cap of $3.94 billion, with shares trading at $23.53, down 1.3% recently.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.13 after multiple upgrades.

Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 16,224 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 627.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,513 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 50.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,845 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ACAD shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised ACADIA Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura Brege sold 14,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.78, for a total transaction of $314,633.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,095 shares in the company, valued at $328,769.10. This trade represents a 48.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider James Kihara sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.50, for a total transaction of $90,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $458,887.50. The trade was a 16.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,446 shares of company stock worth $454,634 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 28.30% of the company's stock.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of ACAD stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $24.04. 1,425,732 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,722,798. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.18 and a 200 day moving average of $19.06. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.40 and a 52-week high of $25.23. The company has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.70.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $244.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.32 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 22.97% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. Equities analysts predict that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals 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.