ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, indicating positive sentiment towards the stock's performance.
• The current consensus rating for ACADIA Pharmaceuticals is "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $28.88.
• ACADIA reported a 9.4% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, achieving $264.57 million, surpassing analysts' expectations.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ACAD. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.88.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:ACAD traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 933,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,884,600. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $13.40 and a fifty-two week high of $25.88. The firm's 50 day moving average is $22.88 and its 200-day moving average is $19.62. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.36 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $264.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 22,000 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals 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 sale, the executive vice president 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Brege sold 14,446 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals 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 sale, the director directly owned 15,095 shares in the company, valued at $328,769.10. This represents a 48.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 26.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 36,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $785,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% during the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 4,260 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 46,773 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,465 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.71% 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.