Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Xenon Pharmaceuticals' shares gapped up after Wedbush raised its price target from $42.00 to $43.00, opening at $36.00 after closing at $34.11.
• The company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $53.20, supported by multiple analysts issuing buy ratings.
• Institutional investors own 95.45% of Xenon Pharmaceuticals, indicating strong support from larger investment firms.

Shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $43.00. The stock had previously closed at $34.11, but opened at $36.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Xenon Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $36.96, with a volume of 253,617 shares traded.

XENE has been the subject of several other reports. Chardan Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Xenon Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XENE. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 69,529 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,726,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $797,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 18,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 3,134 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $316,000. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $697,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.77 and a beta of 1.16.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.03) by ($0.04). During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.75) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.