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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on XENE. Wedbush cut their price target on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 9th. 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, Xenon Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.78.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XENE. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,000. 17 Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $122,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 207.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $195,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $39.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of -14.72 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.34. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $27.99 and a 52-week high of $50.99.

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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.