Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE)

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 9th. William Blair raised Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. 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, September 3rd. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xenon Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.20.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.8 %

XENE opened at $39.70 on Friday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $27.99 and a 52 week high of $50.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.65 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 previous year, the firm posted ($0.72) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 766,666 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the second 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 valued at $191,732,000 after buying an additional 2,434,546 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,681,537 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $123,512,000 after buying an additional 406,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in 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.

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.