Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.45.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on XENE shares. William Blair upgraded Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Activity at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $968,378.84. This trade represents a 17.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,917,684 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $272,349,000 after purchasing an additional 149,511 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,419,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $172,315,000 after purchasing an additional 97,732 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,843,447 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $151,317,000 after buying an additional 15,226 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP raised its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 2,707,255 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $106,585,000 after buying an additional 146,682 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 144.2% in the third 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 last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $42.45 on Wednesday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $29.00 and a fifty-two week high of $50.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.05 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.20.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business posted ($0.73) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 EPS 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.