Annexon (NASDAQ:ANNX) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citizens Jmp

Key Points

• Citizens JMP initiated coverage on Annexon with a market underperform rating and a $3.00 price target, implying about 46% downside from the prior close.
• Other analysts were mixed: Needham raised its target to $25 and kept a buy rating, while Citigroup and Goldman Sachs were more cautious. Overall, MarketBeat shows a Hold consensus with a $15.33 average target.
• Annexon shares were down 4% to $5.57; the company recently reported a smaller-than-expected loss of ($0.23) EPS versus estimates for ($0.30), and insiders bought significant stock, including a 613,497-share purchase by Director Muneer A. Satter.

Equities researchers at Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of Annexon (NASDAQ:ANNX - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "market underperform" rating and a $3.00 price target on the stock. Citizens Jmp's target price would indicate a potential downside of 46.14% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ANNX. Citigroup started coverage on Annexon in a report on Tuesday. They set a "market underperform" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Annexon from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Annexon in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Annexon from $11.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Annexon in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $7.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.33.

Annexon Stock Down 4.0%

ANNX opened at $5.57 on Tuesday. Annexon has a twelve month low of $2.03 and a twelve month high of $7.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.37 and a 200-day moving average of $5.58. The stock has a market cap of $912.59 million, a PE ratio of -4.57 and a beta of 1.16.

Annexon (NASDAQ:ANNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.30) by $0.07. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Annexon will post -0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William H. Carson purchased 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.78 per share, with a total value of $46,240.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 78,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $453,180.90. This represents a 11.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Muneer A. Satter bought 613,497 shares of Annexon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.41 per share, with a total value of $3,319,018.77. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 10,342,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,950,944.94. This represents a 6.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 10.31% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Annexon

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Annexon by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,033 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 2,785 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Annexon in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Annexon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Annexon in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in shares of Annexon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000.

About Annexon

Annexon Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of complement-targeted therapies for patients with neurodegenerative and neuroimmune diseases. The company's research platform centers on the inhibition of the C1 complex, a key initiator of the classical complement pathway implicated in several rare and life-threatening disorders. By selectively targeting upstream complement activation, Annexon aims to prevent the aberrant immune-mediated damage that characterizes conditions such as Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and autoimmune neuropathies.

At the core of Annexon's pipeline is ANX005, a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the C1q subcomponent, currently in Phase 2 clinical trials for acute GBS and chronic neurodegenerative indications.

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