Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires 251,378 Shares of Anavex Life Sciences Corp. $AVXL

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) by 988.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 276,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 251,378 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.30% of Anavex Life Sciences worth $850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVXL. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 17,921.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 744,469 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,650,000 after acquiring an additional 740,338 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Anavex Life Sciences by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 54,137 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 11,281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AVXL shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Anavex Life Sciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Rodman & Renshaw began coverage on Anavex Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, May 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Anavex Life Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.33.

Anavex Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVXL opened at $3.22 on Friday. Anavex Life Sciences Corp. has a one year low of $2.26 and a one year high of $10.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $2.71 and a 200-day moving average of $3.33. The stock has a market cap of $298.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.26 and a beta of 1.15.

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. Equities research analysts anticipate that Anavex Life Sciences Corp. will post -0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Anavex Life Sciences Profile

Anavex Life Sciences Corp is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company applies a proprietary drug discovery platform that targets sigma‐1 and muscarinic receptors to modulate cellular stress pathways and support neuronal function. Headquartered in New York City, Anavex is dedicated to advancing treatments for neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases with high unmet medical need.

The company’s lead product candidate, blarcamesine (ANAVEX2‐73), is a small‐molecule activator of the sigma‐1 receptor currently being evaluated in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease dementia.