Annexon, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANNX) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Annexon, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANNX) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Annexon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Annexon in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Annexon news, Director Muneer A. Satter bought 613,497 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.41 per share, with a total value of $3,319,018.77. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,342,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,950,944.94. The trade was a 6.31% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William H. Carson bought 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.78 per share, for a total transaction of $46,240.00. Following the transaction, the director 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders purchased a total of 629,497 shares of company stock valued at $3,414,859 over the last quarter. 10.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANNX. Redmile Group LLC increased its position in shares of Annexon by 44.8% during the first quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 14,549,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,606,000 after buying an additional 4,499,124 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL grew its stake in Annexon by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 9,128,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,823,000 after acquiring an additional 2,128,080 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Annexon by 8.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,797,000 after acquiring an additional 469,073 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Annexon by 266.7% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 5,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,610,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Annexon by 126.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,652,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,354,000 after acquiring an additional 2,601,877 shares during the period.

Annexon Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ANNX remained flat at $5.46 during trading hours on Friday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,561,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,065,708. The firm has a market capitalization of $894.57 million, a PE ratio of -4.48 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.35 and a 200 day moving average of $5.51. Annexon has a twelve month low of $1.85 and a twelve month high of $7.18.

Annexon (NASDAQ:ANNX) 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Annexon will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

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.