Sheets Smith Investment Management Makes New $1.21 Million Investment in Anavex Life Sciences Corp. $AVXL

Sheets Smith Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 135,948 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,000. Sheets Smith Investment Management owned 0.16% of Anavex Life Sciences as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 221,802 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences in the 1st quarter worth about $1,411,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 70.8% in the 1st quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 127,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 52,853 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 213.4% during the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,050 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 29,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Anavex Life Sciences by 17.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 187,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,604,000 after buying an additional 28,326 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 31.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AVXL shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a report on Friday, November 28th. Jones Trading lowered Anavex Life Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. D. Boral Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Anavex Life Sciences in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Anavex Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Anavex Life Sciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Anavex Life Sciences Stock Down 0.8%

Anavex Life Sciences stock opened at $3.89 on Friday. Anavex Life Sciences Corp. has a twelve month low of $2.86 and a twelve month high of $14.44. The company has a market capitalization of $347.57 million, a P/E ratio of -7.20 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $5.99 and its 200 day moving average is $8.45.

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.14) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Anavex Life Sciences Corp. will post -0.69 EPS for the current year.

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.