ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACAD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Raymond James reissued 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 and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.60.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.32.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $250.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.83 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.40) EPS. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 10,259 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $172,453.79. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $896,006.62. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider James Kihara sold 4,073 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $68,467.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at $333,897.03. This trade represents 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. Insiders own 28.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 67.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 129,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,992,000 after buying an additional 52,340 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,875,540 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $44,234,000 after acquiring an additional 30,826 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 277,565 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $4,269,000 after acquiring an additional 154,854 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,973,874 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $91,878,000 after acquiring an additional 173,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $11,535,000. 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.