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

Annexon, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANNX) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.00.

ANNX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Annexon in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $7.00 price target for the company. Chardan Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Annexon in a report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Annexon in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Annexon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th.

Annexon Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:ANNX opened at $5.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $851.97 million, a P/E ratio of -4.26 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.44. Annexon has a 12-month low of $1.85 and a 12-month high of $7.18.

Annexon (NASDAQ:ANNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by $0.07. On average, research analysts predict that Annexon will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Annexon

In other news, Director Muneer A. Satter purchased 613,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.41 per share, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 6.31% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William H. Carson acquired 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 approximately $453,180.90. The trade was a 11.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have acquired a total of 629,497 shares of company stock valued at $3,414,859 in the last 90 days. 10.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annexon

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Redmile Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Annexon by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 14,549,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,606,000 after purchasing an additional 4,499,124 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL lifted its stake in shares of Annexon by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 9,128,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,823,000 after purchasing an additional 2,128,080 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Annexon by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,797,000 after purchasing an additional 469,073 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Annexon by 266.7% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 4,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Annexon by 126.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,652,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,354,000 after purchasing an additional 2,601,877 shares during the last quarter.

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.