J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Lowers Holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. $XENE

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG trimmed its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) by 55.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,581 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 16,587 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals were worth $609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in XENE. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,001,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,399,033 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $56,171,000 after purchasing an additional 142,452 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,342,000. HighVista Strategies LLC raised its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 80.2% in the third quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 82,190 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 36,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,206,066 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $48,424,000 after purchasing an additional 53,461 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on XENE. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Xenon Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Xenon Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Ian Mortimer sold 270,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.33, for a total transaction of $16,289,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $361,980. This represents a 97.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrea Difabio sold 2,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.11, for a total value of $156,706.77. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,893 shares in the company, valued at $294,118.23. This trade represents a 34.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 296,707 shares of company stock worth $17,845,365 in the last 90 days. 4.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XENE opened at $56.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.04 and a beta of 0.74. Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a one year low of $26.74 and a one year high of $63.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.58.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.20) by ($0.11). During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.84) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc is a clinical?stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing novel, small?molecule drugs targeting ion channels in the central and peripheral nervous system. The company’s research focus centers on neurological and pain disorders—including epilepsy, migraine, and neuropathic pain—by modulating key ion?channel proteins to restore normal neuronal function. Xenon’s scientific platform draws upon advances in ion?channel biology and structure?based drug design to identify and optimize therapeutic candidates with the potential for improved safety and efficacy profiles compared with existing treatments.

The company’s pipeline comprises multiple preclinical and clinical programs.