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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 4,063 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 2,362% compared to the typical volume of 165 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Sherry Aulin sold 18,709 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total value of $770,997.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $200,922.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,573 shares of the company's stock, valued at $968,378.84. This represents a 17.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 144.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,552,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $100,506,000 after buying an additional 1,507,135 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1,263.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 976,783 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $38,456,000 after purchasing an additional 905,129 shares during the period. Logos Global Management LP purchased a new stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $14,621,000. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 57.1% during the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 825,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $32,480,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC raised its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 61.5% during the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 639,685 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $24,941,000 after purchasing an additional 243,489 shares during the period. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XENE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Xenon Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:XENE traded up $0.79 during trading on Thursday, reaching $39.98. The stock had a trading volume of 341,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,760. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.18 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.79. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $50.99.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.73) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.13 EPS for the current year.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.