Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Xencor, Inc. $XNCR

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group bought 100,000 shares of Xencor in Q3 (~$1.17M), representing roughly 0.14% of the company.
• Insiders sold heavily—231,764 shares worth about $3.45M were sold in the last quarter (including VP John R. Desjarlais and CEO Bassil I. Dahiyat), leaving insiders with 4.76% ownership.
• Xencor trades around $12.04 with a market cap of ~$883M and negative EPS, but it topped quarterly EPS estimates and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $25 (Barclays $27, Truist $29).

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 100,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $1,173,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Xencor at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in Xencor by 4.8% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 20,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xencor by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 33,304 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xencor by 77.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Xencor by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 18,272 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its position in shares of Xencor by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 30,721 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Xencor

In related news, VP John R. Desjarlais sold 73,367 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.72, for a total transaction of $1,153,329.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 236,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,718,943.28. This trade represents a 23.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Bassil I. Dahiyat sold 114,377 shares of Xencor stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 466,635 shares in the company, valued at $7,330,835.85. This trade represents a 19.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 231,764 shares of company stock worth $3,450,009 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company's stock.

Xencor Price Performance

NASDAQ:XNCR opened at $12.04 on Thursday. Xencor, Inc. has a one year low of $6.92 and a one year high of $18.69. The stock has a market cap of $883.01 million, a PE ratio of -9.71 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 6.25 and a current ratio of 6.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.05.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.55. The company had revenue of $28.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.97 million. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 14.58% and a negative net margin of 73.20%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 46.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.62) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Xencor, Inc. will post -3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on XNCR. Barclays upped their price target on Xencor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Xencor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Truist Financial started coverage on Xencor in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Xencor in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Xencor 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.

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