Virtus Advisers LLC Sells 17,151 Shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. $ACAD

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC significantly reduced its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, selling 17,151 shares, resulting in a total ownership decrease of 84.7% to just 3,107 shares.
• ACADIA Pharmaceuticals reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.16, surpassing expectations, with revenue of $264.57 million, reflecting a 9.4% year-over-year increase.
• Multiple analysts have adjusted their price targets for ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, with the average target now at $28.88, indicating a general consensus of buy among investment analysts.

Virtus Advisers LLC cut its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Free Report) by 84.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,107 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 17,151 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC's holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals were worth $52,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACAD. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $60,845,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $40,935,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1,055.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $21,630,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% during 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. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 22,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.18, for a total value of $553,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,010,473.40. This trade represents a 35.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 $328,769.10. This represents 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACAD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 26th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.88.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ ACAD traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.99. 1,322,541 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,047,005. The business's 50-day moving average is $23.35 and its 200-day moving average is $19.96. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.40 and a twelve month high of $26.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 0.70.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.16 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 analysts' expectations of $263.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

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.