Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Trading Up 10.4% on Earnings Beat

Shares of Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR) were up 10.4% on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $12.99 and last traded at $13.2250. Approximately 92,547 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 629,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.98.

The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $28.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.97 million. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 14.62% and a negative net margin of 73.20%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 46.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.62) earnings per share.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XNCR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Xencor in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Xencor from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Barclays increased their target price on Xencor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Xencor in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Xencor from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xencor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Xencor

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BVF Inc. IL increased its holdings in Xencor by 160.3% during the fourth quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 7,133,720 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $109,217,000 after buying an additional 4,393,579 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Xencor by 603.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,273,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,095 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Xencor by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,507,254 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,006,000 after acquiring an additional 833,423 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in shares of Xencor by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,527,322 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $82,745,000 after purchasing an additional 766,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Xencor by 620.4% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 720,440 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,030,000 after purchasing an additional 620,440 shares during the period.

Xencor Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $13.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.74. The company has a market capitalization of $967.61 million, a PE ratio of -10.93 and a beta of 0.98.

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.