Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE)

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) saw some unusual options trading activity 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 Activity

In related news, CEO Ian Mortimer sold 22,468 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.20, for a total transaction of $903,213.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,258,340.40. This represents a 41.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 5.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 707,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,843,000 after purchasing an additional 46,964 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 57.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 439,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,287,000 after buying an additional 17,953 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1,263.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 976,783 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $38,456,000 after buying an additional 905,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1,275.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,993 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 13,903 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of XENE opened at $34.85 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $38.20 and its 200-day moving average is $39.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.36 and a beta of 1.26. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $33.27 and a fifty-two week high of $46.00.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.84) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by $0.05. Equities research analysts expect that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on XENE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $57.38.

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.