Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 58,000 ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 58,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $963,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ACAD. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $60,845,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,935,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,555,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 204.2% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,226,533 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $22,507,000 after buying an additional 823,333 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 160.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,263,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $23,180,000 after buying an additional 778,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.71% of the company's stock.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

ACAD opened at $22.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.58 and a 200 day moving average of $18.67. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.40 and a fifty-two week high of $25.23.

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

Insider Transactions at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 2,000 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $50,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 62,130 shares in the company, valued at $1,553,250. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider James Kihara sold 4,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider owned 20,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $458,887.50. This represents a 16.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,271 shares of company stock worth $525,079. 26.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ACAD shares. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.88.

About ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

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.

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