Vestal Point Capital LP Raises Stock Position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE)

Vestal Point Capital LP lifted its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 825,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 300,000 shares during the quarter. Xenon Pharmaceuticals accounts for 2.5% of Vestal Point Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Vestal Point Capital LP’s holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals were worth $32,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 335,635 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,449,000 after purchasing an additional 12,140 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 87.8% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,032 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 4,691 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 56,477 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,431,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $287,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 39.2% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 175,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,852,000 after acquiring an additional 49,483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

XENE opened at $43.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.24. Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.62 and a twelve month high of $50.99.

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 prior year, the firm earned ($0.73) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on XENE. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. William Blair upgraded Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xenon Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $57.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total value of $200,922.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,573 shares in the company, valued at $968,378.84. This represents a 17.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.52% of the company’s stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.