Xenon Pharmaceuticals Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:XENE)

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 4,063 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,362% compared to the typical daily volume of 165 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XENE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. William Blair upgraded Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 9th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Xenon Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.45.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.3 %

XENE opened at $41.97 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.11 and a 200 day moving average of $40.34. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $28.10 and a 12 month high of $50.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.88 and a beta of 1.25.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.82) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.73) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XENE. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 89.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 9.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 20,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,374 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 178,099 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,667,000 after buying an additional 3,813 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,286 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

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.