Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) Stock Price Down 6.9% – Time to Sell?

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) dropped 6.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $31.00 and last traded at $31.24. Approximately 703,733 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 56% from the average daily volume of 451,302 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on XENE. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Xenon Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.38.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 8.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.87 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.62 and a 200 day moving average of $39.70.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.84) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by $0.05. Research analysts predict that Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ian Mortimer sold 22,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.20, for a total transaction of $903,213.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 31,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,258,340.40. This trade represents a 41.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1,263.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 976,783 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $38,456,000 after acquiring an additional 905,129 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in 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 period. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $4,132,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,522 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,350,000 after purchasing an additional 26,235 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 279,513 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,004,000 after purchasing an additional 32,701 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.