Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD - Free Report) by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 129,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,340 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.08% of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals worth $1,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ACAD. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 70.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,032 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $25,000. Institutional investors own 96.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ACAD. Morgan Stanley downgraded ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Raymond James restated a "market perform" rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.56.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2 %

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,398,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,784. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a one year low of $14.15 and a one year high of $32.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's 50 day moving average is $15.61 and its 200 day moving average is $15.99.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 25.83% and a net margin of 13.83%. The firm had revenue of $250.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $248.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.40) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider James Kihara sold 4,073 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 approximately $333,897.03. The trade was a 17.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brendan Teehan sold 10,329 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $173,630.49. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 62,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,043,985.05. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,661 shares of company stock valued at $414,551. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals 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.