Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Xencor's shares saw a significant decline after Bank of America downgraded the stock from a buy to a neutral rating, with the opening price dropping from $8.55 to $8.00.
• Other analysts have also decreased their price targets, with Royal Bank of Canada lowering theirs from $32 to $15 and Barclays reducing it from $22 to $6.
• Despite recent downgrades, Xencor has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts, with a current average target price of $22.25.

Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Bank of America downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. The stock had previously closed at $8.55, but opened at $8.00. Bank of America now has a $12.00 price target on the stock. Xencor shares last traded at $8.33, with a volume of 101,545 shares.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Xencor from $32.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Xencor from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on Xencor from $22.00 to $6.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Xencor in a report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ellen Feigal sold 2,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.22, for a total transaction of $27,595.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,867.26. The trade was a 13.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kurt A. Gustafson sold 2,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $186,087.26. This represents a 12.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,194 shares of company stock worth $103,209 over the last three months. 5.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xencor

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XNCR. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Xencor during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Xencor during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xencor by 195.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,231 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Xencor by 118.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,568 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Xencor by 82.8% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,982 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709 shares in the last quarter.

Xencor Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $594.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.48 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $8.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.76.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by $0.37. The business had revenue of $43.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.59 million. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 25.75% and a negative net margin of 121.52%.Xencor's revenue was up 82.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.07) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Xencor, Inc. will post -3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xencor Company Profile

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.

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