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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 4,063 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 2,362% compared to the typical volume of 165 put options.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:XENE opened at $41.63 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.80. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $27.99 and a 52-week high of $50.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of -15.31 and a beta of 1.15.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by $0.12. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.57) earnings per share. Xenon Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In other Xenon Pharmaceuticals news, Director Steven Gannon sold 13,000 shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.28, for a total transaction of $601,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $92,560. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Xenon Pharmaceuticals news, Director Steven Gannon sold 13,000 shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.28, for a total transaction of $601,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $92,560. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sherrington Robin sold 7,137 shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.28, for a total value of $330,300.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,659.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 40.5% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 126,028 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,305,000 after acquiring an additional 36,324 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 64.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,728,108 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $59,032,000 after acquiring an additional 677,057 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 38.3% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 590,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,174,000 after acquiring an additional 163,650 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 22.2% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,967 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on XENE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup started coverage on Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Wedbush lifted their target price on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.44.

About Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing therapeutics to treat patients with neurological disorders in Canada. Its clinical development pipeline includes XEN496, a Kv7 potassium channel opener that is Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of KCNQ2 developmental and epileptic encephalopathy; and XEN1101, a Kv7 potassium channel opener, which is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of epilepsy and other neurological disorders.