Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Downgraded by Zacks Research to "Strong Sell"

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) from a "hold" to a "strong sell", though analyst opinions are mixed overall with MarketBeat showing an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $24.38.
• Xencor posted a steep quarterly miss — EPS of ($1.71) vs. ($0.75) expected and revenue of $4.52M vs. $27.86M expected, a reported 86.2% year-over-year revenue decline.
• Company insiders have been selling recently (44,020 shares worth about $499,817 in the past 90 days), even as large institutional investors like BVF, State Street and RTW materially increased their holdings.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Xencor in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $13.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of Xencor in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays upped their target price on Xencor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Xencor from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Xencor currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $24.38.

Xencor Price Performance

Shares of XNCR opened at $12.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $912.54 million, a P/E ratio of -5.38 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50-day moving average is $12.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 6.25 and a current ratio of 6.25. Xencor has a fifty-two week low of $6.92 and a fifty-two week high of $18.69.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.71) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.75) by ($0.96). Xencor had a negative return on equity of 27.50% and a negative net margin of 177.10%.The company had revenue of $4.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.86 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.66) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 86.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Xencor will post -2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bassil I. Dahiyat sold 6,606 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.02, for a total transaction of $72,798.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 546,316 shares in the company, valued at $6,020,402.32. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John R. Desjarlais sold 2,502 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.02, for a total value of $27,572.04. Following the sale, the vice president owned 263,831 shares in the company, valued at $2,907,417.62. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 44,020 shares of company stock worth $499,817 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xencor

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XNCR. BVF Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Xencor by 160.3% during the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 7,133,720 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $109,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,393,579 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Xencor by 603.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,273,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $14,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,095 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Xencor by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,507,254 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $69,006,000 after buying an additional 833,423 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Xencor by 620.4% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 720,440 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $11,030,000 after buying an additional 620,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RTW Investments LP boosted its holdings in Xencor by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 6,777,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $103,763,000 after buying an additional 556,407 shares during the last quarter.

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.

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