ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) Short Interest Up 16.5% in October

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,530,000 shares, a growth of 16.5% from the October 15th total of 8,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.0 days.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ACAD opened at $16.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 0.38. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $14.15 and a 52 week high of $32.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $15.56 and a 200-day moving average of $16.00.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $248.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.40) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ACADIA Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 9,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $148,720.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 43,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $668,270.80. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen Davis sold 31,747 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $485,094.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,850,560.40. This trade represents a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,014 shares of company stock valued at $779,494 over the last three months. Company insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACAD. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 778 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 210,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,894,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 70.5% during the first 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 period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 42.3% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ACAD. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. 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. Morgan Stanley cut shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.56.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Company 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.