Strs Ohio Takes $796,000 Position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. $ACAD

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, purchasing 47,900 shares valued at approximately $796,000 in the first quarter.
• A significant percentage of the company, 96.71%, is owned by hedge funds and institutional investors, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Analysts have a "Moderate Buy" consensus rating for ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, with an average price target of $29.65, reflecting optimism about the stock's performance.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 47,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $796,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,203,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $252,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,594 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $60,845,000. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% in the first quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,769,828 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $46,007,000 after acquiring an additional 54,899 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 73.7% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,977,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $32,845,000 after acquiring an additional 838,728 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1,055.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,632,749 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $27,120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,491,484 shares during the period. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ACADIA Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 3,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.65, for a total transaction of $82,727.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,447 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,521.55. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Garofalo sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.98, for a total transaction of $41,568.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,424.36. This trade represents a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,098 shares of company stock worth $678,256. 28.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ACAD. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating and set a $22.00 price target (up previously from $19.00) on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.65.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ACAD traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $24.69. 522,172 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,150,502. The firm has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $24.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.55. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.40 and a 1 year high of $26.65.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $264.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $263.07 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.