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

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 4,063 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 2,362% compared to the typical daily volume of 165 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% in the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,952 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 24,010 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP boosted its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 11,441 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 69,529 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,726,000 after buying an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 39.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,742 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, May 5th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.82.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:XENE opened at $29.74 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.55 and a beta of 1.21. The firm's 50-day moving average is $34.28 and its 200-day moving average is $38.12. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $26.74 and a 52-week high of $46.00.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.62) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 EPS 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.

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