Investors Purchase Large Volume of Cassava Sciences Call Options (NASDAQ:SAVA)

Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 12,849 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 309% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,144 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SAVA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Cassava Sciences in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Cassava Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.00.

Cassava Sciences Price Performance

SAVA stock traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $2.44. 1,123,432 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 740,971. The firm has a market cap of $117.68 million, a P/E ratio of -1.11 and a beta of -0.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.67. Cassava Sciences has a 1-year low of $1.15 and a 1-year high of $4.98.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cassava Sciences

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Cassava Sciences by 2,774.3% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,061,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,998,000 after buying an additional 1,989,572 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cassava Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $654,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cassava Sciences by 77.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 496,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after buying an additional 217,404 shares during the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cassava Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in Cassava Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $277,000. 38.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.