As of the second quarter of 2023, DnB Asset Management AS has acquired a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD), according to its recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor has purchased 12,141 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, worth approximately $291,000.
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development and commercialization of innovative medicines to address unmet medical needs in central nervous system disorders. The company recently released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. During this period, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.01, surpassing analysts’ consensus estimates by $0.13, which were expected to be at ($0.12).
The company’s revenue for the quarter amounted to $165.20 million, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.86 million. Furthermore, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals demonstrated a year-over-year increase in revenue by 22.7%. Despite this positive growth in revenue, the company’s return on equity stood at a negative 27.77%, indicating financial challenges that need attention.
The net margin for ACADIA Pharmaceuticals during this period was calculated at a negative 20.11%. Although this signifies that the company did not generate significant profits relative to its revenue, it is important to note that pharmaceutical companies often incur substantial research and development costs before they can bring products to market.
Throughout the same period last year, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals had earned ($0.21) EPS on average and has shown promising improvement since then by reporting positive EPS figures for this quarter.
Looking forward to the rest of the year, research analysts project that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s earnings per share will amount to approximately -0.41 for the current year as a whole.
Overall, with DnB Asset Management AS recently acquiring a new position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, it suggests that institutional investors have confidence in the company’s potential for growth and profitability. However, it is worth considering the financial challenges highlighted by negative return on equity and net margin figures. Investors and market observers will continue to monitor the developments at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals to assess its performance and strategic direction.
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ACADIA Pharmaceuticals: Ownership Changes and Insider Trading Activity Shake up Market Perception
In recent months, several hedge funds and institutional investors have made significant changes to their positions in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in the company valued at approximately $30,000 during the first quarter of this year. Similarly, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals by 33.6% during the same period and now owns around 2,198 shares worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares.
Another notable investor, CWM LLC, experienced exponential growth of its holdings by an astonishing 7,783.3% during the first quarter. With an additional 2,335 shares acquired, CWM LLC now owns 2,365 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’ stock worth $45,000. Additionally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC saw a significant increase in its holdings by 169%, adding an extra 1,960 shares to its portfolio and bringing the total to 3,120 shares valued at $59,000.
Moreover, State of Wyoming entered the market by acquiring a new stake in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals worth approximately $92,000 during the fourth quarter of last year. Notably, hedge funds and institutional investors currently own a staggering 96.29% of ACADIA’s stock.
ACAD has received commentary from various brokerages regarding its position in the market. Oppenheimer reassessed their opinion and declared a “market perform” rating along with a price objective of $25.00 for ACADIA Pharmaceuticals on Thursday, August 3rd.
Cantor Fitzgerald also reiterated an “overweight” rating while setting a price objective of $42 for the companyÂ’s stock on Tuesday August 22nd.
Citigroup increased their price objective on ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $21.60 to $27.00 but maintained a “neutral” rating on Friday, July 14th. Similarly, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective to $33.00 and assigned an “outperform” rating to ACADIA’s stock on the same day.
Conversely, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective for ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, August 3rd but still recommended investors to buy the company’s stock.
Overall, analysts’ ratings varied with one analyst rating ACAD as a sell, seven assigning it as hold and six giving it a buy rating. Bloomberg data suggests the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” with a consensus price target of $31.81.
In terms of recent insider activities within the company, CEO Stephen Davis sold 16,498 shares at an average price of $25.00 per share in a transaction that took place on Tuesday, July 11th. The total value of this transaction was approximately $412,450. Following this sale, the chief executive officer directly holds 91,799 shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals valued at around $2,294,975.
Additionally, CFO Mark C. Schneyer sold 10,000 shares of ACAD’s stock at an average price of $29 per share on Monday, August 21st with a total value amounting to approximately $290,000. Following this transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,682 shares valued at about $454,778.
Insiders have collectively sold 128,498 shares in the last three months alone which corresponds to roughly $3.76 million worth of company stock being traded internally during this period. As it stands now,
company insiders own approximately 27.50% of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’ total outstanding shares.
On September 20th , ACAD opened its trading session at $24.44. With a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, the stock has a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.42 and a beta of 0.57. Over the past fifty days, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals saw its shares trade at an average price of approximately $28.14, while over the last 200 days, the stock averaged around $24.04 per share. Its lowest point in the last year reached $13.73, whereas its highest was recorded at $33.99.
Overall, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals has been subject to considerable changes in its ownership structure and insider trading activity in recent months, as indicated by hedge funds and institutional investors adjusting their positions and company insiders selling significant amounts of stock. Moreover, it remains an investment option with varying opinions from brokerages, as analysts provide different outlooks on its potential performance in this competitive marketplace.
