Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on XNCR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Xencor from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Xencor from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Xencor from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Xencor in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Xencor in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Xencor Price Performance

XNCR stock opened at $12.77 on Friday. Xencor has a 52-week low of $6.92 and a 52-week high of $18.69. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $936.55 million, a P/E ratio of -10.30 and a beta of 0.98.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.55. Xencor had a negative net margin of 73.20% and a negative return on equity of 14.62%. The firm had revenue of $28.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.62) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 46.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Xencor will post -3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Xencor

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

Institutional Trading of Xencor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xencor by 209.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,187 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Xencor by 77.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Xencor in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Xencor by 118.4% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,568 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Xencor by 114.3% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,947 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 2,105 shares during the last quarter.

Xencor Company Profile

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.