Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) Stock Price Passes Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.35 and traded as high as $5.18. Anavex Life Sciences shares last traded at $5.00, with a volume of 1,499,518 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AVXL. D. Boral Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Anavex Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.00.

Anavex Life Sciences Stock Up 6.6%

The company has a market cap of $463.35 million, a P/E ratio of -10.87 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.24.

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.04. On average, research analysts expect that Anavex Life Sciences Corp. will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Anavex Life Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nwam LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 2.4% in the second quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 1,024,479 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,446,000 after buying an additional 24,128 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Anavex Life Sciences by 51.4% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 48,842 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 16,589 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Investment Management acquired a new stake in Anavex Life Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,210,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,019,795 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,624,000 after purchasing an additional 54,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, October Effect Ltd boosted its position in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 110.4% during the 3rd quarter. October Effect Ltd now owns 245,221 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 128,675 shares in the last quarter. 31.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Anavex Life Sciences Company Profile

Anavex Life Sciences Corp is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company applies a proprietary drug discovery platform that targets sigma‐1 and muscarinic receptors to modulate cellular stress pathways and support neuronal function. Headquartered in New York City, Anavex is dedicated to advancing treatments for neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases with high unmet medical need.

The company’s lead product candidate, blarcamesine (ANAVEX2‐73), is a small‐molecule activator of the sigma‐1 receptor currently being evaluated in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease dementia.