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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 4,063 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 2,362% compared to the average volume of 165 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. William Blair raised Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XENE. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $91,000. 17 Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $122,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 207.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:XENE opened at $40.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of -15.07 and a beta of 1.25. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $27.99 and a fifty-two week high of $50.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.31.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.75) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.72) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

About Xenon Pharmaceuticals

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.