Should You Avoid ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACAD)?

Is ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) a buy, sell, or hold? Money managers are in a pessimistic mood. The number of long hedge fund bets retreated by 2 lately.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)

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Consequently, let’s take a gander at the key action surrounding ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD).

Hedge fund activity in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)

At Q1’s end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -17% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors had the biggest position in ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD), worth close to $124 million, comprising 2.5% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Peter Kolchinsky of RA Capital Management, with a $62.2 million position; the fund has 13.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, and Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors.

Judging by the fact that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there exists a select few money managers who were dropping their entire stakes heading into Q2. It’s worth mentioning that Joseph Edelman’s Perceptive Advisors dumped the biggest position of all the hedgies we watch, comprising about $1.9 million in stock.. Glenn Russell Dubin’s fund, Highbridge Capital Management, also cut its stock, about $0.1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds heading into Q2.

How have insiders been trading ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD). These stocks are Array Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:ARRY), Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MACK), Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO), and EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS). This group of stocks are in the biotechnology industry and their market caps are closest to ACAD’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Array Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:ARRY) 20 0 0
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MACK) 6 3 2
Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) 15 1 0
EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) 12 0 0

With the results demonstrated by our tactics, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) is an important part of this process.

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