Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) VP John Desjarlais Sells 2,502 Shares of Stock

Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR) VP John Desjarlais sold 2,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,907,417.62. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Xencor Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of NASDAQ XNCR opened at $11.87 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.03. The firm has a market cap of $870.55 million, a PE ratio of -9.57 and a beta of 0.95. Xencor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.92 and a 1 year high of $18.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 6.25 and a quick ratio of 6.25.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.64) by $0.55. Xencor had a negative net margin of 73.20% and a negative return on equity of 14.58%. The business had revenue of $28.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.97 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.62) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 46.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Xencor, Inc. will post -3.68 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xencor

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xencor during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,955,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Xencor by 153.2% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,371 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 17,773 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Xencor by 3,150.0% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 363,153 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 351,979 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Xencor in the third quarter worth approximately $1,062,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Xencor by 68.4% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 488,892 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,843,000 after buying an additional 198,564 shares during the period.

Xencor News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Xencor this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Xencor and Genentech have agreed to end their protein-therapeutics collaboration. This removes a strategic partner that could have provided development resources, milestone and/or royalty payments tied to the collaboration and could delay or change the path-to-market for affected programs; however, termination may return rights to Xencor and let the company seek new partners or advance programs independently. Xencor, Genentech to End Protein Therapeutics Collaboration
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales by senior Xencor executives were disclosed this week: CEO Bassil Dahiyat sold 14,870 shares on March 5 and 6,606 shares on March 6 (total 21,476 shares), SVP Celia Eckert sold 5,011 shares across March 5–6, and VP John Desjarlais sold 6,620 shares across March 5–6. Aggregate proceeds reported are in the low six-figure range per trade. These clustered sales by top executives can be read negatively by the market (profit-taking or reduced insider conviction), unless part of pre-planned 10b5‑1 arrangements (no such plan was disclosed in these notices). Relevant SEC filings: CEO Form 4(s) SVP Form 4(s) VP Form 4(s)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Xencor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Xencor in a report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial started coverage on Xencor in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Xencor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Eight 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.00.

Xencor Company Profile

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.