Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE)

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 4,063 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,362% compared to the typical volume of 165 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on XENE. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. William Blair upgraded Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.78.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.7 %

XENE stock opened at $40.79 on Friday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $27.99 and a one year high of $50.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of -15.05 and a beta of 1.25.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.72) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,666,666 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $261,007,000 after acquiring an additional 766,666 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,419,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $172,315,000 after purchasing an additional 97,732 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 140.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,162,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $191,732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,434,546 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,681,537 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $123,512,000 after buying an additional 406,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,475,859 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $106,586,000 after buying an additional 20,176 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.