Investors Buy Large Volume of Cassava Sciences Call Options (NASDAQ:SAVA)

Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 25,311 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 448% compared to the typical volume of 4,615 call options.

Cassava Sciences Price Performance

SAVA stock opened at $2.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.38 million, a P/E ratio of -0.98 and a beta of -1.00. Cassava Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $1.15 and a fifty-two week high of $4.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.76 and a 200-day moving average of $2.68.

Cassava Sciences (NASDAQ:SAVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.05. Equities analysts expect that Cassava Sciences will post -3.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard Barry purchased 73,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $2.75 per share, with a total value of $201,808.75. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 788,060 shares in the company, valued at $2,167,165. The trade was a 10.27% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SAVA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cassava Sciences by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,289,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,663,000 after purchasing an additional 119,451 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Cassava Sciences by 2,774.3% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,061,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,998,000 after buying an additional 1,989,572 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Cassava Sciences by 7.3% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 564,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,644,000 after buying an additional 38,483 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Cassava Sciences by 77.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 496,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 217,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cassava Sciences during the third quarter worth $654,000. 38.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on SAVA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cassava Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Cassava Sciences in a research note on Friday, December 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cassava Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.00.

About Cassava Sciences

Cassava Sciences, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies and diagnostics for Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company was originally founded as Pain Therapeutics in 1998 and rebranded to Cassava Sciences in 2017. Cassava’s research program centers on small molecules designed to address underlying mechanisms of neurodegeneration rather than solely targeting amyloid plaques or tau tangles.

The company’s lead drug candidate, simufilam (formerly PTI-125), is a proprietary small molecule that aims to restore normal shape and function to the scaffolding protein filamin A, which has been implicated in impaired neuronal signaling and inflammation in Alzheimer’s patients.