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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) has been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ:XENE opened at $38.52 on Thursday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $35.53 and a twelve month high of $50.99. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of -13.66 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.79.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last released its 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 period last year, the company earned ($0.73) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Sherry Aulin sold 18,709 shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total value of $770,997.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of the 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 represents a 17.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,507,135 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 905,129 shares during the last quarter. Logos Global Management LP purchased a new stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,621,000. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 825,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,480,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 61.5% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

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.