Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL)

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 10,341 put options on the company. This is an increase of 210% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,331 put options.

Anavex Life Sciences Trading Down 8.8%

Shares of AVXL stock traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $6.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,356,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,139,637. The stock has a market cap of $571.25 million, a PE ratio of -11.78 and a beta of 0.92. Anavex Life Sciences has a 12-month low of $6.62 and a 12-month high of $14.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.86 and a 200 day moving average of $9.30.

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.03). As a group, analysts anticipate that Anavex Life Sciences will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,902,246 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,061,000 after purchasing an additional 221,802 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Anavex Life Sciences by 617.5% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 214,725 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 184,800 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Anavex Life Sciences during the 1st quarter worth about $1,411,000. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Anavex Life Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at about $194,000. 31.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AVXL shares. D. Boral Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Jones Trading lowered shares of Anavex Life Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Anavex Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 23rd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Anavex Life Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

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.