Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Xencor from a "sell" to a "hold" in a report issued Saturday.
• Xencor reported Q results showing EPS of ($0.09) which beat estimates by $0.55, but revenue of $28.24 million missed expectations and was down 46.6% year‑over‑year, and the company remains unprofitable with a negative net margin and ROE.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $24.38 average price target; the stock traded near $13.06 (up ~4.9%), market cap ≈ $958M, and insiders sold about 44,020 shares in the past three months (insiders own 4.76%).

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

XNCR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays increased their price target on Xencor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Xencor in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Xencor in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.38.

Xencor Trading Up 4.9%

Xencor stock opened at $13.06 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.61. The company has a quick ratio of 6.25, a current ratio of 6.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $957.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.53 and a beta of 0.99. Xencor has a 12 month low of $6.92 and a 12 month high of $18.69.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.55. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 14.58% and a negative net margin of 73.20%.The business had revenue of $28.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $29.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.62) EPS. Xencor's quarterly revenue was down 46.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Xencor will post -3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Xencor

In other news, VP John R. Desjarlais sold 4,118 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.25, for a total value of $46,327.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 266,333 shares in the company, valued at $2,996,246.25. This trade represents a 1.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Bassil I. Dahiyat sold 14,870 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.25, for a total value of $167,287.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 552,922 shares in the company, valued at $6,220,372.50. This represents a 2.62% 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 three months. Insiders own 4.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Xencor

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XNCR. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xencor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,062,000. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Xencor by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,675,022 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $125,218,000 after purchasing an additional 147,700 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Xencor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,173,000. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Xencor by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,102,106 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $12,928,000 after purchasing an additional 431,675 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Xencor by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 401,501 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $4,710,000 after purchasing an additional 71,494 shares during the period.

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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