Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on XNCR. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Xencor in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Xencor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.38.

Xencor Stock Down 5.4%

XNCR stock opened at $12.31 on Wednesday. Xencor has a twelve month low of $6.92 and a twelve month high of $18.69. 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’s 50 day moving average is $12.28 and its 200-day moving average is $13.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $912.54 million, a PE ratio of -5.38 and a beta of 0.93.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.71) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.75) by ($0.96). Xencor had a negative net margin of 177.10% and a negative return on equity of 27.50%. The company had revenue of $4.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.66) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 86.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Xencor will post -2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Xencor

In related news, CEO Bassil I. Dahiyat sold 6,606 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.02, for a total transaction of $72,798.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 546,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,020,402.32. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Celia Eckert sold 3,244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.25, for a total value of $36,495.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 44,020 shares of company stock valued at $499,817. 4.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Xencor

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in Xencor by 1.4% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,675,022 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $125,218,000 after buying an additional 147,700 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Xencor by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,165,450 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $109,703,000 after buying an additional 61,692 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL increased its position in Xencor by 160.3% in the fourth quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 7,133,720 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $109,217,000 after buying an additional 4,393,579 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP increased its position in Xencor by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 6,777,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $103,763,000 after buying an additional 556,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Xencor by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,507,254 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,006,000 after buying an additional 833,423 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.