ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $18.66, but opened at $18.25. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $18.39, with a volume of 386,029 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ACAD. StockNews.com cut ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.25.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.37.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $250.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.83 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 25.83% and a net margin of 13.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.40) earnings per share. Analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ACADIA Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 10,259 shares of the firm’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 $172,453.79. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,302 shares in the company, valued at $896,006.62. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider James Kihara sold 4,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $68,467.13. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,661 shares of company stock worth $414,551 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,770 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,999 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

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.