Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Purchases Shares of 39,370 ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 39,370 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $722,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,093 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 73,048 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,340,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.71% of the company's stock.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

ACAD traded down $0.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $21.55. 1,839,076 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,935,558. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.40 and a twelve month high of $25.23. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.22.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $244.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.32 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 25.83%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho boosted their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.83.

Insider Transactions at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Elizabeth A. Garofalo sold 4,919 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total value of $89,673.37. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,595 shares in the company, valued at $320,756.85. This represents a 21.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider James Kihara sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.50, for a total transaction of $90,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,395 shares in the company, valued at $458,887.50. This trade represents a 16.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,994 shares of company stock worth $453,131. Corporate insiders own 26.50% of the company's stock.

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.