Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,820,000 shares, a growth of 5.7% from the November 30th total of 19,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 15.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 42,565 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Anavex Life Sciences by 6.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Anavex Life Sciences during the third quarter worth $74,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Anavex Life Sciences by 70.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 155,179 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 64,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 666.7% in the third quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 11,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. 31.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Anavex Life Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVXL opened at $12.15 on Friday. Anavex Life Sciences has a 1 year low of $3.25 and a 1 year high of $14.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.30 and a beta of 0.73.

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.03. On average, analysts predict that Anavex Life Sciences will post -0.55 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVXL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Anavex Life Sciences from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. D. Boral Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, December 23rd.

Anavex Life Sciences Company Profile

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.