Jennison Associates LLC Increases Holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE)

Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 576,661 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,389 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.76% of Xenon Pharmaceuticals worth $22,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 97,732 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the second quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 994,227 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,765,000 after purchasing an additional 156,840 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 778,293 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,641,000 after purchasing an additional 23,800 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 61.5% during the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 639,685 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,941,000 after purchasing an additional 243,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 582,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $22,726,000 after buying an additional 6,337 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total value of $200,922.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $968,378.84. This represents a 17.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on XENE shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 9th. William Blair raised Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xenon Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.45.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:XENE opened at $41.15 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of -14.59 and a beta of 1.25. Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.20 and a 52-week high of $50.99.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.82) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.73) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc, a neuroscience-focused biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of therapeutics to treat patients with neurological disorders in Canada. Its clinical development pipeline includes XEN1101, a novel and potent Kv7 potassium channel opener, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of epilepsy and other neurological disorders.