Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Trading Down 7.1% – Here’s Why

Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR) shares traded down 7.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $13.56 and last traded at $13.42. 191,331 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 854,022 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on XNCR. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Xencor in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Xencor from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Xencor from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Xencor from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Xencor in a report on Monday, December 29th. Eight equities 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.88.

Xencor Trading Down 3.2%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.02. The firm has a market cap of $913.33 million, a PE ratio of -7.23 and a beta of 0.97.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.72) by $0.64. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 20.44% and a negative net margin of 87.14%.The firm had revenue of $21.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.71) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Xencor, Inc. will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Bassil I. Dahiyat sold 114,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.71, for a total transaction of $1,796,862.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 466,635 shares in the company, valued at $7,330,835.85. The trade was a 19.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John R. Desjarlais sold 73,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.72, for a total transaction of $1,153,329.24. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 236,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,718,943.28. The trade was a 23.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xencor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Xencor in the second quarter valued at $1,955,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Xencor by 153.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,371 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 17,773 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Xencor by 3,150.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 363,153 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,854,000 after acquiring an additional 351,979 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Xencor by 93.0% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 95,745 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 46,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Xencor by 68.4% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 488,892 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,843,000 after acquiring an additional 198,564 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.