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.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE - Get Free Report) shares 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 changing hands.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on XENE. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Chardan Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xenon Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,584,859 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $153,822,000 after purchasing an additional 64,264 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,789,197 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $127,128,000 after purchasing an additional 11,586 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP increased its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 2,913,964 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $114,227,000 after buying an additional 206,709 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,866,755 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $112,425,000 after buying an additional 314,363 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,697,657 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $105,748,000 after buying an additional 253,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 9.0%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.51 and a beta of 1.16.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.03) by ($0.04). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.75) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -3.1 earnings per share 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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