Insider Selling: Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) CFO Sells 18,709 Shares of Stock

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) CFO Sherry Aulin sold 18,709 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total transaction of $770,997.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XENE traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $38.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 563,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,692. Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $50.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.47. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.82) by $0.01. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.73) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. William Blair raised shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XENE. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1,275.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,993 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 13,903 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc bought a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $327,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 68.8% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,557 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $967,000 after buying an additional 10,007 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,843,447 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $151,317,000 after purchasing an additional 15,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 31.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 273,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,776,000 after acquiring an additional 64,800 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.