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

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ian Mortimer sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.43, for a total transaction of $1,777,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $266,580. The trade was a 86.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 65,302 shares of company stock worth $2,924,128 in the last ninety days. 4.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Xenon Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of XENE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 period. Braidwell LP increased its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,605,029 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $112,837,000 after acquiring an additional 895,154 shares during the last quarter. Commodore Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 3,025,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $94,682,000 after acquiring an additional 700,000 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 53.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 700,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,976,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $79,359,000 after acquiring an additional 167,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:XENE opened at $42.12 on Thursday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $26.74 and a 1 year high of $46.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.55. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.83 and a beta of 0.97.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.81) EPS. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Chardan Capital upgraded shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.