Short Interest in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) Expands By 14.5%

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,720,000 shares, an increase of 14.5% from the December 15th total of 9,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ACAD stock opened at $17.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.22 and its 200 day moving average is $16.53. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $14.15 and a twelve month high of $29.29.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $250.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.40) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACAD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim cut ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 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 research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 10,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 53,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,006.62. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider James Kihara sold 4,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $68,467.13. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,897.03. This represents a 17.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,661 shares of company stock valued at $414,551 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 380.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,483,731 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $45,576,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966,607 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 103,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,896,000 after acquiring an additional 7,491 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. bought a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $6,953,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 35,774 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 3,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 264,031 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,952,000 after acquiring an additional 3,516 shares in the last quarter. 96.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.