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

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) by 67.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 129,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,340 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals worth $1,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 431.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,774,353 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $45,083,000 after acquiring an additional 2,251,940 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 36.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,937,714 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $47,738,000 after acquiring an additional 781,070 shares during the last quarter. Iron Triangle Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $11,535,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $10,550,000. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $8,882,000. 96.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ACAD. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday. 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 note on Thursday, October 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.25.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of ACAD opened at $18.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.40. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.15 and a 52-week high of $31.10.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $250.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.83 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 25.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.40) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In other ACADIA Pharmaceuticals news, COO Brendan Teehan sold 10,329 shares of the company’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 $173,630.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 62,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,043,985.05. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 10,259 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $172,453.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,006.62. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,661 shares of company stock worth $414,551 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

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.