Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.55 EPS

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.64) by $0.55, Zacks reports. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 14.62% and a negative net margin of 73.20%.The firm had revenue of $28.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.62) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 46.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Xencor Stock Up 13.1%

Xencor stock opened at $13.55 on Friday. Xencor has a 52-week low of $6.92 and a 52-week high of $18.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $13.21 and its 200 day moving average is $12.74. The company has a market cap of $967.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.93 and a beta of 0.98.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Bassil I. Dahiyat sold 114,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.71, for a total value of $1,796,862.67. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 466,635 shares in the company, valued at $7,330,835.85. The trade was a 19.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John R. Desjarlais sold 73,367 shares of Xencor stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.72, for a total value of $1,153,329.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 236,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,718,943.28. This represents a 23.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xencor

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of XNCR. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Xencor in the first quarter worth $438,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Xencor by 9.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 44,047 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 3,692 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Xencor by 89.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 726,734 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,732,000 after acquiring an additional 344,088 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Xencor by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,130 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 3,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Xencor by 170.9% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 330,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,594,000 after purchasing an additional 208,182 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on XNCR. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Xencor from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Xencor in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Xencor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Xencor from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Xencor from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

About Xencor

Xencor, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the design and development of engineered protein therapeutics for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, cancer and neurological disorders. The company applies its proprietary XmAb® platform to manipulate antibody structure and function, creating molecules with enhanced immune engagement and extended half-life. Xencor’s research programs span a range of therapeutic modalities, including monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies and cytokine-based fusion proteins.

The XmAb® platform enables precise modification of the Fc region to augment key properties such as receptor binding, effector function and pharmacokinetics.