Short Interest in Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) Increases By 10.6%

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,120,000 shares, a growth of 10.6% from the March 15th total of 20,000,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 17.3 days.

Anavex Life Sciences Stock Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ AVXL opened at $4.12 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.14. Anavex Life Sciences has a 12-month low of $4.06 and a 12-month high of $10.45. The firm has a market cap of $338.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.04. Equities analysts expect that Anavex Life Sciences will post -0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher U. Missling sold 73,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.11, for a total value of $374,971.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,250,210 shares in the company, valued at $6,388,573.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Anavex Life Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences during the third quarter worth about $1,765,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 2.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 177,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $116,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,245,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,807,000 after purchasing an additional 41,193 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 54.6% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 43,144 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 15,243 shares during the period. 31.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, HC Wainwright cut their price target on shares of Anavex Life Sciences from $54.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd.

About Anavex Life Sciences

Anavex Life Sciences Corp., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of therapeutics for the treatment of central nervous system diseases. Its lead product candidate is ANAVEX 2-73 for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, as well as other central nervous system diseases, including rare diseases, such as Rett syndrome, a rare severe neurological monogenic disorder; and infantile spasms, Fragile X syndrome, and Angelman syndrome.