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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 4,063 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,362% compared to the average volume of 165 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In other Xenon Pharmaceuticals news, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 23,573 shares in the company, valued at $968,378.84. This trade represents a 17.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sherry Aulin sold 18,709 shares of the business’s 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XENE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,740 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,592 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 174.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,949 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,946 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XENE opened at $38.42 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.50. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $50.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.62 and a beta of 1.19.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.73) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.