ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.69, but opened at $18.24. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $18.42, with a volume of 1,043,031 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACAD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.60.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 11.9 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94 and a beta of 0.40.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 25.83%. The business had revenue of $250.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.40) earnings per share. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ACADIA Pharmaceuticals news, insider James Kihara sold 4,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $68,467.13. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,897.03. The trade was a 17.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brendan Teehan sold 10,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $173,630.49. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 62,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,043,985.05. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,661 shares of company stock valued at $414,551 over the last three months. 28.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $81,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,999 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.