Wells Fargo & Company Initiates Coverage on Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR)

Key Points

• Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Xencor with an “overweight” rating and a $55 price target, implying approximately 114% upside from the stock’s reported $25.67 price.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: Xencor has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $34, based on one Strong Buy, six Buys, three Holds, and one Sell.
• Xencor reported quarterly revenue of $51.22 million and an adjusted loss of $0.29 per share, beating consensus estimates; revenue increased 17.4% year over year, although the company remains unprofitable.

Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm set an "overweight" rating and a $55.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price indicates a potential upside of 114.22% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on XNCR. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Xencor from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Xencor from $14.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Xencor from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Xencor from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Xencor from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xencor currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Xencor Price Performance

Shares of XNCR stock traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $25.67. 36,738 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 955,599. The company has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.87 and a beta of 0.88. The company's 50 day moving average is $24.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.85. Xencor has a 1 year low of $10.38 and a 1 year high of $30.61.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.80) by $0.51. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 28.66% and a negative net margin of 155.59%.The firm had revenue of $51.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.41) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Xencor will post -3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xencor

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its position in Xencor by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 106,247 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xencor during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xencor during the 2nd quarter worth about $459,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Xencor by 23.2% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,436 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Xencor by 360.4% in the second quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 368,305 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,930,000 after buying an additional 288,305 shares during the last quarter.

About Xencor

Xencor, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops engineered antibodies and cytokine therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases and other serious medical conditions. The company's platform is designed to modify antibody properties, including immune-system activation, half-life and biological activity, to create differentiated therapeutic candidates.

Xencor's proprietary XmAb technology supports its internal research programs and collaborations with other biopharmaceutical companies.

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