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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Sherry Aulin sold 18,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total value of $770,997.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total value of $200,922.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its position 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 boosted its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,843,447 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $151,317,000 after acquiring an additional 15,226 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP raised its stake in shares of 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 lifted its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 144.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,552,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $100,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

XENE opened at $38.42 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of -13.62 and a beta of 1.19. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $50.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.73 and a 200-day moving average of $40.50.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on XENE shares. William Blair raised shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eight equities research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.