Fred Alger Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. $ACAD

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC has increased its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 2.0%, now owning approximately 1.66% of the company, valued at $46 million.
• Recent insider sales indicate a 35.41% decrease in shares owned by EVP Mark C. Schneyer and a 5.93% decrease for Director Elizabeth A. Garofalo, signaling potential changes in insider sentiment.
• ACADIA's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts; with an average target of $28.88 and recommendations ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Sell".

Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Free Report) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,769,828 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 54,899 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC owned approximately 1.66% of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals worth $46,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also 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 valued at about $29,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 231.5% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,317 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.71% of the company's stock.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.4%

NASDAQ ACAD traded down $0.59 on Friday, reaching $23.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,539,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,850,874. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.75. The company's fifty day moving average is $23.99 and its 200 day moving average is $20.33. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.40 and a 52-week high of $26.65.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 21.80%.The firm had revenue of $264.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 22,000 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.18, for a total transaction of $553,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,010,473.40. This trade represents a 35.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Garofalo sold 1,600 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.98, for a total value of $41,568.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $659,424.36. This trade represents a 5.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 26.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.65.

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.