Analysts Set Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) Price Target at $56.00

Shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.00.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair upgraded shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In other news, 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 value of $200,922.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $968,378.84. This represents a 17.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sherry Aulin sold 18,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total value of $770,997.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in XENE. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 144.2% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,552,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $100,506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,135 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1,263.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 976,783 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,456,000 after acquiring an additional 905,129 shares during the period. Logos Global Management LP purchased a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $14,621,000. Vestal Point Capital LP increased 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC increased its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 61.5% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 639,685 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,941,000 after acquiring an additional 243,489 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ XENE opened at $39.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.00 and a beta of 1.19. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $35.53 and a twelve month high of $50.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.49.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.82) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.73) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current 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.