Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) Stock Dropped to “Strong Sell” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

XENE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.14.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

XENE stock opened at $36.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.69 and a beta of 0.60. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $35.06 and a twelve month high of $72.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.57 and a 200-day moving average of $56.40.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.05. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.07) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -4.70 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In other Xenon Pharmaceuticals news, insider Christopher Kenney sold 7,068 shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total value of $425,847.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120.50. This trade represents a 99.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Ian Mortimer purchased 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $37.38 per share, for a total transaction of $1,121,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 49,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,866,121.74. This represents a 150.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 2.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $454,057,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $252,673,000. Orbimed Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 137.0% during the first quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 1,059,971 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,637,000 after acquiring an additional 612,771 shares in the last quarter. Siren L.L.C. raised its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 62.2% during the first quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 1,318,564 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $76,674,000 after acquiring an additional 505,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Octagon Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,494,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

About Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The company uses research in ion channels and neuronal signaling to identify potential treatments for conditions with significant unmet medical needs.

Xenon’s lead investigational medicine is azetukalner, also known as XEN1101, a selective potassium channel opener being evaluated for epilepsy and major depressive disorder. The company is also advancing additional programs aimed at genetically defined epilepsies and other disorders of the central nervous system.