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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 4,063 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,362% compared to the typical daily volume of 165 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Xenon Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Ian Mortimer sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.16, for a total value of $1,004,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,257,088.32. This trade represents a 44.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,302 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,928. 4.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $56,637,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 66.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,609,857 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $144,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435,096 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1,294.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 970,343 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,369,000 after buying an additional 900,746 shares during the period. Braidwell LP raised its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,605,029 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $112,837,000 after buying an additional 895,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP raised its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 53.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 2,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $62,600,000 after buying an additional 700,000 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:XENE opened at $45.05 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.58 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.30 and a 200 day moving average of $37.73. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $26.74 and a 1-year high of $46.60.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.15) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.01. Xenon Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.81) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Bloom Burton upgraded Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.64.

About Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing novel, small‐molecule drugs targeting ion channels in the central and peripheral nervous system. The company’s research focus centers on neurological and pain disorders—including epilepsy, migraine, and neuropathic pain—by modulating key ion‐channel proteins to restore normal neuronal function. Xenon’s scientific platform draws upon advances in ion‐channel biology and structure‐based drug design to identify and optimize therapeutic candidates with the potential for improved safety and efficacy profiles compared with existing treatments.

The company’s pipeline comprises multiple preclinical and clinical programs.