Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on XENE. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, February 24th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.38.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $34.26 on Friday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $33.27 and a 12-month high of $46.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.15 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.74.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.84) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.05. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Xenon Pharmaceuticals 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 31,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,258,340.40. The trade was a 41.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XENE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 1,263.2% in 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 period. Barclays PLC grew its stake 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 worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 13,903 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $4,132,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,522 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,350,000 after purchasing an additional 26,235 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 279,513 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,004,000 after purchasing an additional 32,701 shares during the last quarter. 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.