Investors Purchase High Volume of Xenon Pharmaceuticals Put Options (NASDAQ:XENE)

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 4,063 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,362% compared to the typical volume of 165 put options.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ XENE opened at $43.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.30 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.24. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $33.62 and a 1-year high of $50.99.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $200,922.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $968,378.84. The trade was a 17.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,917,684 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $272,349,000 after buying an additional 149,511 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,419,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $172,315,000 after acquiring an additional 97,732 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,843,447 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $151,317,000 after acquiring an additional 15,226 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP lifted its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 2,707,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $106,585,000 after acquiring an additional 146,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 144.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,552,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $100,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on XENE shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. William Blair upgraded Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.45.

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.