112,869 Shares in Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. $XENE Bought by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 112,869 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $6,813,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Xenon Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 7.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 442,732 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $14,854,000 after acquiring an additional 32,486 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $532,000. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $711,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $816,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,518,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $47,530,000 after purchasing an additional 189,141 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XENE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.13.

Insider Activity at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Steven Gannon sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.06, for a total transaction of $640,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,870 shares in the company, valued at $119,792.20. This trade represents a 84.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Kenney sold 7,068 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total transaction of $425,847.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2 shares in the company, valued at $120.50. This trade represents a 99.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 2.91% of the company's stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $58.80 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.60. Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.60 and a fifty-two week high of $72.66. The firm has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.41 and a beta of 0.61.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.11) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.05. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.07) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -4.73 earnings per share for the current year.

About Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ: XENE is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The company uses its expertise in ion channels, which regulate the electrical activity of nerve cells, to discover and advance potential treatments for conditions with significant unmet medical needs.

Xenon's leading investigational product is azetukalner (XEN1101), an oral, small-molecule potassium-channel opener being studied in epilepsy, including focal-onset seizures, and major depressive disorder.

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