Xenon Pharmaceuticals Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:XENE)

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 4,063 put options on the company. This is an increase of 2,362% compared to the average volume of 165 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on XENE. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

Insider Transactions at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $200,922.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $968,378.84. This represents a 17.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sherry Aulin sold 18,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total transaction of $770,997.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,383 shares of company stock valued at $2,535,891 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XENE. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 707,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,843,000 after purchasing an additional 46,964 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 57.1% during the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 825,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,480,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 4.3% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 439,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,287,000 after acquiring an additional 17,953 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1,263.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 976,783 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $38,456,000 after acquiring an additional 905,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1,275.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,993 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 13,903 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ XENE opened at $39.60 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.71. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $35.53 and a 52-week high of $50.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.04 and a beta of 1.20.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.73) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc, a neuroscience-focused biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of therapeutics to treat patients with neurological disorders in Canada. Its clinical development pipeline includes XEN1101, a novel and potent Kv7 potassium channel opener, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of epilepsy and other neurological disorders.