Cassava Sciences Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:SAVA)

Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 19,765 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 21% compared to the typical daily volume of 16,399 call options.

Cassava Sciences Price Performance

SAVA opened at $2.89 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.58. The firm has a market cap of $139.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.09 and a beta of -0.86. Cassava Sciences has a 1 year low of $2.23 and a 1 year high of $42.20.

Cassava Sciences (NASDAQ:SAVA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.37) by $0.79. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.61) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cassava Sciences will post -3.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Eric Schoen sold 59,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total value of $230,828.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,390. The trade was a 83.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cassava Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SAVA. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cassava Sciences during the third quarter worth about $11,036,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cassava Sciences by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,008,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,688,000 after buying an additional 41,289 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cassava Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,610,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Cassava Sciences by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 140,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after buying an additional 21,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Cassava Sciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $605,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Cassava Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $116.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th.

About Cassava Sciences

Cassava Sciences, Inc, a clinical stage biotechnology company, develops drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. Its lead therapeutic product candidate is simufilam, a small molecule drug, which is completed Phase 2 clinical trial; and investigational diagnostic product candidate is SavaDx, a blood-based biomarker/diagnostic to detect Alzheimer's disease.