Palo Alto Investors LP Has $44.25 Million Stock Holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. $ACAD

Key Points

• Palo Alto Investors LP reduced its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. by selling 84,674 shares, representing a 3.1% decrease in its holdings, which now amounts to approximately 2.66 million shares, making up 8.4% of its portfolio.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Raymond James and Dimensional Fund Advisors, have recently increased their positions in ACADIA, contributing to 96.71% of the company's stock being owned by institutional and hedge fund investors.
• Analyst ratings for ACADIA Pharmaceuticals show a consensus of "Moderate Buy", with price targets ranging from $17.00 to $35.00, indicating a positive outlook on the stock's performance.

Palo Alto Investors LP cut its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,663,925 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 84,674 shares during the period. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals makes up about 8.4% of Palo Alto Investors LP's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Palo Alto Investors LP owned approximately 1.59% of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals worth $44,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACAD. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $60,845,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $40,935,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1,055.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,632,749 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,491,484 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $21,630,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,203,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $252,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,594 shares in the last quarter. 96.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.88.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

ACAD stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.26. 1,109,663 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,890,401. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 0.75. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.40 and a 52 week high of $26.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.16.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $264.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.07 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 21.80%.ACADIA Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ACADIA Pharmaceuticals 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,010,473.40. The trade was a 35.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $25.98, for a total value of $41,568.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,382 shares in the company, valued at $659,424.36. The trade was a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 28.30% of the company's stock.

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.