Short Interest in Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) Expands By 5.7%

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during 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 volume of 1,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 15.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVXL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Anavex Life Sciences from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. D. Boral Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, December 23rd.

Institutional Trading of Anavex Life Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,883,199 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $10,699,000 after purchasing an additional 51,946 shares during the period. Nwam LLC purchased a new position in Anavex Life Sciences in the third quarter valued at about $5,172,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 665,976 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,783,000 after acquiring an additional 14,892 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 483.8% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 466,437 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 386,537 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Anavex Life Sciences by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 280,556 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 40,895 shares in the last quarter. 31.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Anavex Life Sciences Stock Performance

Anavex Life Sciences stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $10.74. 2,703,316 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,289,191. Anavex Life Sciences has a 52-week low of $3.25 and a 52-week high of $14.44. The stock has a market cap of $910.92 million, a P/E ratio of -21.48 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's 50 day moving average is $8.50 and its 200 day moving average is $6.56.

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.03. Equities research analysts expect that Anavex Life Sciences will post -0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.