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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 4,063 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 2,362% compared to the average daily volume of 165 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on XENE. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ XENE opened at $39.48 on Friday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $35.53 and a 12-month high of $50.99. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of -14.00 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In other 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 value of $200,922.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $968,378.84. This represents a 17.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sherry Aulin sold 18,709 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. 5.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 707,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,843,000 after acquiring an additional 46,964 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,419,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $172,315,000 after purchasing an additional 97,732 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,574,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.