HC Wainwright Reiterates "Buy" Rating for Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL)

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $40.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's price target would suggest a potential upside of 447.95% from the stock's current price.

Separately, EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I upgraded Anavex Life Sciences to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd.

Anavex Life Sciences Stock Performance

Anavex Life Sciences stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $7.30. 2,157,677 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,164,256. The company has a market cap of $619.04 million, a PE ratio of -14.60 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.06. Anavex Life Sciences has a 12 month low of $3.25 and a 12 month high of $10.45.

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.14) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Anavex Life Sciences will post -0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Anavex Life Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 675.0% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 804,642 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,096,000 after acquiring an additional 700,812 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Anavex Life Sciences by 483.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 466,437 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 386,537 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in Anavex Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,414,682 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $22,471,000 after buying an additional 54,034 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences during the second quarter worth $191,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.55% of the company's stock.

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.