Annexon, Inc. $ANNX Shares Bought by BVF Inc. IL

BVF Inc. IL grew its holdings in Annexon, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANNX) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,128,080 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,128,080 shares during the period. Annexon accounts for about 1.5% of BVF Inc. IL’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. BVF Inc. IL owned 7.63% of Annexon worth $45,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Annexon by 8.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,797,000 after buying an additional 469,073 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Annexon by 266.7% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 5,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,610,000 after buying an additional 4,000,000 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Annexon by 126.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,652,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,354,000 after buying an additional 2,601,877 shares during the last quarter. Mak Capital One LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Annexon in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,852,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC raised its position in shares of Annexon by 327.1% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 2,915,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,635,000 after buying an additional 2,232,766 shares during the last quarter.

Annexon Trading Up 9.3%

Shares of ANNX opened at $4.94 on Thursday. Annexon, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.85 and a 12-month high of $7.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $809.37 million, a P/E ratio of -4.05 and a beta of 1.18.

Annexon (NASDAQ:ANNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by $0.07. Equities research analysts predict that Annexon, Inc. will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Annexon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Annexon in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Chardan Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Annexon in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Annexon in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Annexon presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William H. Carson bought 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.78 per share, with a total value of $46,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 78,405 shares in the company, valued at $453,180.90. This represents a 11.36% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Muneer A. Satter bought 613,497 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.41 per share, with a total value of $3,319,018.77. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,342,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,950,944.94. This trade represents a 6.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 629,497 shares of company stock valued at $3,414,859. 10.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.