Cassava Sciences Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:SAVA)

Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 7,933 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 67% compared to the average volume of 4,741 call options.

Cassava Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ SAVA traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $2.19. The company had a trading volume of 366,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 746,936. The business has a 50 day moving average of $2.34 and a 200-day moving average of $2.68. The company has a market cap of $105.56 million, a PE ratio of -1.00 and a beta of -0.63. Cassava Sciences has a 1-year low of $1.15 and a 1-year high of $4.98.

Cassava Sciences (NASDAQ:SAVA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.05. Sell-side analysts expect that Cassava Sciences will post -3.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SAVA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cassava Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Cassava Sciences in a report on Friday, December 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cassava Sciences news, CEO Richard Barry purchased 73,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.75 per share, for a total transaction of $201,808.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 788,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,167,165. The trade was a 10.27% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 12.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cassava Sciences

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAVA. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Cassava Sciences by 2,774.3% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,061,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,998,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,572 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cassava Sciences in the third quarter worth $654,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Cassava Sciences by 77.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 496,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 217,404 shares during the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Cassava Sciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cassava Sciences by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,289,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,663,000 after purchasing an additional 119,451 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.05% of the company’s stock.

About Cassava Sciences

Cassava Sciences, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies and diagnostics for Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company was originally founded as Pain Therapeutics in 1998 and rebranded to Cassava Sciences in 2017. Cassava’s research program centers on small molecules designed to address underlying mechanisms of neurodegeneration rather than solely targeting amyloid plaques or tau tangles.

The company’s lead drug candidate, simufilam (formerly PTI-125), is a proprietary small molecule that aims to restore normal shape and function to the scaffolding protein filamin A, which has been implicated in impaired neuronal signaling and inflammation in Alzheimer’s patients.