Wedbush Cuts Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Price Target to $26.00

Key Points

• Wedbush has reduced Xencor's price target from $31.00 to $26.00, while maintaining an "outperform" rating, indicating a potential upside of 245.74% from the stock's previous close.
• Barclays downgraded Xencor's price target significantly from $22.00 to $6.00, assigning an "underweight" rating, contributing to varied analyst opinions with two sell ratings and seven buy ratings.
• Xencor reported a profit of ($0.41) earnings per share, surpassing estimates and showing an 82.4% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Wedbush from $31.00 to $26.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Wedbush's price objective points to a potential upside of 269.32% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Xencor in a research note on Monday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Xencor from $22.00 to $6.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.43.

Xencor Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ:XNCR traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $7.04. The company had a trading volume of 353,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,860. Xencor has a 1 year low of $7.01 and a 1 year high of $27.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $502.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.94 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.87.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by $0.37. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 25.75% and a negative net margin of 121.52%. The firm had revenue of $43.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.07) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 82.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Xencor will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ellen Feigal sold 2,993 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.22, for a total value of $27,595.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,183 shares in the company, valued at $176,867.26. This trade represents a 13.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard J. Ranieri sold 2,993 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.22, for a total value of $27,595.46. Following the sale, the director owned 19,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $176,867.26. This trade represents a 13.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,194 shares of company stock worth $103,209. 5.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xencor

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Xencor by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Xencor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,397,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA purchased a new stake in shares of Xencor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Xencor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $632,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Xencor by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 195,452 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,491,000 after purchasing an additional 6,972 shares in the last quarter.

About Xencor

Xencor, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery and development of engineered monoclonal antibody and cytokine therapeutics to treat patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company provides Sotrovimab that targets the SARS-CoV-2 virus; Ultomiris for the treatment of patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome; and Monjuvi for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.