Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Key Points

• Anavex Life Sciences has been downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen.
• Despite the downgrade, other brokerages like HC Wainwright and D. Boral Capital maintained "buy" ratings with target prices of $42.00 and $46.00 respectively.
• The company reported a quarterly loss with an EPS of ($0.16), falling short of the consensus estimate by $0.03.

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. D. Boral Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Anavex Life Sciences presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $44.00.

Anavex Life Sciences Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of AVXL stock traded down $0.24 on Friday, reaching $9.21. The company had a trading volume of 200,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,108,793. The stock has a market cap of $791.08 million, a PE ratio of -16.16 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.52 and a 200-day moving average of $9.24. Anavex Life Sciences has a 12 month low of $4.93 and a 12 month high of $14.44.

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.03). Sell-side analysts anticipate that Anavex Life Sciences will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Anavex Life Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVXL. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 2,419.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 615,048 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,606,000 after buying an additional 590,639 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 482.1% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 546,626 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,690,000 after buying an additional 452,723 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 4.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,902,246 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $42,061,000 after buying an additional 221,802 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Anavex Life Sciences in the first quarter valued at $1,622,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 617.5% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 214,725 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 184,800 shares in the last quarter. 31.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.