Stock Traders Buy High Volume of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Call Options (NASDAQ:ACAD)

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 6,400 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 567% compared to the average volume of 960 call options.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 9.9%

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $21.26 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.36 and a 200-day moving average of $20.62. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.75. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $13.40 and a 1-year high of $26.65.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $264.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.07 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 14.69%. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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 analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Mark C. Schneyer sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.18, for a total value of $553,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,010,473.40. This represents a 35.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Garofalo sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.98, for a total transaction of $41,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,424.36. The trade was a 5.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,098 shares of company stock worth $678,256. Insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 91,067 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,964,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 100.7% in the second quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,573 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 14,841 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 422,252 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,108,000 after buying an additional 31,821 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $297,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 250.6% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,629 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 11,171 shares during the period. 96.71% of the stock is currently 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.