Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Cuts Position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. $XENE

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management cut its stake in Xenon by 50.4% in Q4, selling 636,594 shares and now holding 625,985 shares (about 0.81% of the company, valued at ~$28.0M).
• Insiders sold heavily this quarter — including CEO Ian Mortimer's sale of 270,000 shares for ~$16.29M — with total insider sales of 296,707 shares (~$17.85M), leaving insiders owning ~4.07%.
• Despite recent sales and a Q4 EPS miss (‑$1.31) with analysts forecasting a full‑year EPS of ‑4.83, the stock has a consensus "Buy" rating and an average price target of $73.13 while trading near $56.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE - Free Report) by 50.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 625,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 636,594 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.81% of Xenon Pharmaceuticals worth $28,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,837,000. Letson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,755 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,780 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 8,232 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush cut their target price on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $58.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.13.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of XENE opened at $56.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.85 and a beta of 0.74. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $53.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.20. Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.19 and a 12 month high of $63.95.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.31) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.20) by ($0.11). During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.84) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -4.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In other Xenon Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Ian Mortimer sold 270,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.33, for a total transaction of $16,289,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $361,980. The trade was a 97.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrea Difabio sold 2,607 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.11, for a total value of $156,706.77. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,893 shares in the company, valued at $294,118.23. The trade was a 34.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 296,707 shares of company stock worth $17,845,365 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.07% of the company's stock.

About Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing novel, small‐molecule drugs targeting ion channels in the central and peripheral nervous system. The company's research focus centers on neurological and pain disorders—including epilepsy, migraine, and neuropathic pain—by modulating key ion‐channel proteins to restore normal neuronal function. Xenon's scientific platform draws upon advances in ion‐channel biology and structure‐based drug design to identify and optimize therapeutic candidates with the potential for improved safety and efficacy profiles compared with existing treatments.

The company's pipeline comprises multiple preclinical and clinical programs.

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