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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 4,063 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,362% compared to the average volume of 165 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ian Mortimer sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.43, for a total value of $1,777,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $266,580. This represents a 86.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Xenon Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 7.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 442,732 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,854,000 after purchasing an additional 32,486 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 21,250 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $665,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $81,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 73.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 436,020 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,647,000 after buying an additional 184,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $577,000. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XENE opened at $42.05 on Friday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $26.74 and a 1-year high of $46.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.64 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.16.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.31) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.20) by ($0.11). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.84) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XENE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Chardan Capital raised Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xenon Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.50.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.