ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,980,000 shares, a drop of 13.5% from the September 15th total of 9,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Brendan Teehan sold 9,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total transaction of $145,679.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,264.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Brendan Teehan sold 9,534 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total transaction of $145,679.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 52,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,264.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen Davis sold 31,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total transaction of $485,094.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,850,560.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,014 shares of company stock valued at $779,494 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 70.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,032 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $48,000. Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $81,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

ACAD opened at $14.91 on Wednesday. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $14.31 and a one year high of $32.59. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,491.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.27.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.02. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 6.89% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company had revenue of $241.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 46.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.