Annexon (NASDAQ:ANNX) Trading 8.5% Higher Following Insider Buying Activity

Key Points

• Insider buying lifted Annexon shares about 8.5% after Director William H. Carson bought 8,000 shares at $6.20 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, boosting his stake to 70,405 shares; the stock traded as high as $6.37 with mid-day volume ~1.55M shares.
• The stock carries a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $17 (five Buys, one Hold, one Sell), while recent notes include Chardan's $16 target and Cantor Fitzgerald's overweight rating.
• Annexon is a clinical-stage biotech focused on complement-targeted therapies; its lead program, ANX005 (Phase 2) for acute GBS, sits alongside a market cap of about $1.01B and expected negative FY EPS around -0.96.

Annexon, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANNX - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 8.5% on Wednesday following insider buying activity. The company traded as high as $6.37 and last traded at $6.2950. 1,551,927 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 2,614,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.80.

Specifically, Director William H. Carson acquired 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.20 per share, for a total transaction of $49,600.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 70,405 shares in the company, valued at $436,511. This represents a 12.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ANNX shares. Chardan Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Annexon in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Annexon in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Annexon in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Annexon Stock Up 8.0%

The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.63 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.77.

Annexon (NASDAQ:ANNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.04. On average, research analysts expect that Annexon, Inc. will post -0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANNX. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Annexon during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Annexon during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Annexon during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Annexon by 65.6% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,033 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 2,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Annexon in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000.

Annexon Company Profile

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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