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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XENE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. William Blair raised shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eight equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $200,922.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $968,378.84. This represents a 17.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sherry Aulin sold 18,709 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $770,997.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XENE. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 174.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $102,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,740 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $327,000. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

XENE stock opened at $38.42 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.50. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.62 and a beta of 1.19. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $35.53 and a 1 year high of $50.99.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.01. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.73) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 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.