Piper Sandler Upgrades Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) to Overweight

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) was upgraded by analysts at Piper Sandler from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $30.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $20.00. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 12.78% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Xencor from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price (up previously from $32.00) on shares of Xencor in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Xencor from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Xencor in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $36.50.

Xencor Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Xencor stock opened at $26.60 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.56. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.31 and a beta of 0.69. Xencor has a 1 year low of $15.31 and a 1 year high of $27.20. The company has a current ratio of 6.23, a quick ratio of 6.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.98) by $0.27. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 30.92% and a negative net margin of 232.77%. The firm had revenue of $10.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.40) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 81.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Xencor will post -3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John R. Desjarlais sold 68,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.48, for a total transaction of $1,612,700.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 200,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,698,441.92. This trade represents a 25.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Bassil I. Dahiyat sold 49,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.07, for a total transaction of $1,186,121.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 352,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,487,443.05. The trade was a 12.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 121,328 shares of company stock worth $2,879,673. 5.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xencor

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XNCR. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Xencor by 1.6% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,643 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in shares of Xencor by 3.3% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 23,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Xencor by 3.0% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 31,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in Xencor by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 12,156 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Xencor by 7.8% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 14,076 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares in the last quarter.

About Xencor

Xencor, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery and development of engineered monoclonal antibody and cytokine therapeutics to treat patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company provides Sotrovimab that targets the SARS-CoV-2 virus; Ultomiris for the treatment of patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome; and Monjuvi for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.