Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.45.

A number of brokerages have commented on XENE. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. William Blair raised shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of XENE stock opened at $42.45 on Wednesday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $29.00 and a 52 week high of $50.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.05 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.20.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.01. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.73) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $200,922.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,573 shares in the company, valued at $968,378.84. This represents a 17.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 174.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,740 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 207.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $287,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.