Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Grows Stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) by 4.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 669,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,054 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Xenon Pharmaceuticals were worth $26,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in XENE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,740 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 56,477 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,592 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,286 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 174.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. William Blair raised shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.45.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $41.15 on Monday. Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.20 and a fifty-two week high of $50.99. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of -14.59 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.19.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last announced 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 previous year, the firm earned ($0.73) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gary Patou sold 4,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $968,378.84. This represents a 17.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.