Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) Stock Price Down 3.1% on Insider Selling

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) traded down 3.1% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $37.90 and last traded at $38.12. 18,162 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 386,408 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.35.

Specifically, CFO Sherry Aulin sold 18,709 shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total transaction of $770,997.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XENE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, William Blair raised Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $56.00.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of -13.70 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.46.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,740 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,592 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,949 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,946 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

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.