Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Cassava Sciences Call Options (NASDAQ:SAVA)

Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 7,933 call options on the company. This is an increase of 67% compared to the typical volume of 4,741 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard Barry bought 73,385 shares of Cassava Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.75 per share, with a total value of $201,808.75. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 788,060 shares in the company, valued at $2,167,165. This represents a 10.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cassava Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Cassava Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cassava Sciences during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cassava Sciences in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cassava Sciences by 15.7% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 43,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 5,875 shares during the period. Finally, Mayport LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cassava Sciences in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.05% of the company’s stock.

Cassava Sciences Price Performance

Cassava Sciences stock opened at $2.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $103.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.98 and a beta of -0.63. Cassava Sciences has a 12 month low of $1.15 and a 12 month high of $4.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.31 and its 200-day moving average is $2.68.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SAVA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Cassava Sciences in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Cassava Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $2.00.

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.