Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Price Target Raised to $14.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Xencor’s price target from $13.00 to $14.00 while keeping a neutral rating, implying about 9.25% upside from the current share price.
• Xencor’s latest quarterly results were weak, with EPS of -$1.71 versus an expected -$0.75 and revenue of $4.52 million versus an expected $27.86 million.
• Analyst opinions remain mixed: some firms cut the stock to strong sell, while others remain bullish; overall, MarketBeat shows an average Hold rating and a consensus price target of $24.50.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $13.00 to $14.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective points to a potential upside of 9.25% from the stock's current price.

XNCR has been the topic of several other research reports. Zacks Research lowered Xencor from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Xencor from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays raised their target price on Xencor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Xencor in a report on Friday, March 27th. Six 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Xencor presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.50.

Xencor Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:XNCR traded down $0.05 on Monday, hitting $12.82. The stock had a trading volume of 369,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 782,844. The business's fifty day moving average is $12.28 and its 200 day moving average is $13.60. The company has a market cap of $950.13 million, a PE ratio of -5.59 and a beta of 0.93. Xencor has a 52 week low of $6.92 and a 52 week high of $18.69.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.75) by ($0.96). The firm had revenue of $4.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.86 million. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 28.77% and a negative net margin of 177.10%.The firm's revenue was down 86.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.66) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Xencor will post -3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Bassil I. Dahiyat sold 14,870 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.25, for a total transaction of $167,287.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 552,922 shares in the company, valued at $6,220,372.50. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Celia Eckert sold 3,244 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.25, for a total value of $36,495.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 78,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at $885,206.25. The trade was a 3.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 44,020 shares of company stock worth $499,817 over the last ninety days. 4.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xencor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XNCR. BVF Inc. IL raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 4,393,579 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,092,095 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Xencor by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,507,254 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $69,006,000 after purchasing an additional 833,423 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Xencor by 620.4% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 720,440 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $11,030,000 after purchasing an additional 620,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RTW Investments LP raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 556,407 shares in 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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