Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) Stock Price

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $78.00 to $60.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.62% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on XENE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $46.00 in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.53.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $57.35 on Friday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $35.97 and a 52 week high of $72.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.10 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.07.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.05. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.07) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -4.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Steven Gannon sold 10,000 shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.06, for a total transaction of $640,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,792.20. This trade represents a 84.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Kenney sold 7,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total transaction of $425,847.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120.50. The trade was a 99.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 2.91% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XENE. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $454,057,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $252,673,000. Orbimed Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 612,771 shares in the last quarter. Siren L.L.C. increased its holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 62.2% in the 1st quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 1,318,564 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $76,674,000 after buying an additional 505,803 shares during the period. Finally, Octagon Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,494,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:XENE) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The company uses its expertise in ion channels, which regulate the electrical activity of nerve cells, to discover and advance potential treatments for conditions with significant unmet medical needs.

Xenon’s leading investigational product is azetukalner (XEN1101), an oral, small-molecule potassium-channel opener being studied in epilepsy, including focal-onset seizures, and major depressive disorder.