Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 1,255,594 Shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. $ACAD

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 9.0%, acquiring an additional 1,255,594 shares, bringing its total ownership to 15,203,234 shares, valued at approximately $252.5 million.
• ACADIA Pharmaceuticals reported earnings of $0.16 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenues up 9.4% year-over-year.
• Overall, institutional investors currently hold 96.71% of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals' stock, indicating strong institutional backing in the company.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,203,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,255,594 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.09% of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals worth $252,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ACAD. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 202,349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,713,000 after buying an additional 14,447 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,459 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 6,173 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $211,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $664,000. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 12,519 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.88.

Insider Transactions at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 22,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.18, for a total transaction of $553,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,010,473.40. This represents a 35.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Brege sold 14,446 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.78, for a total transaction of $314,633.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $328,769.10. The trade was a 48.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 26.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ACAD traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $25.75. 2,065,342 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,166,344. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.40 and a 52 week high of $25.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.70.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $264.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.07 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 EPS 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.