Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,990,000 shares, an increase of 21.4% from the December 31st total of 4,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 603,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.3 days.

Insider Activity at Xencor

In other news, VP John R. Desjarlais sold 68,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.48, for a total value of $1,612,700.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 200,104 shares in the company, valued at $4,698,441.92. This represents a 25.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan Bruce Montgomery sold 13,301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.03, for a total transaction of $359,526.03. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,140 shares in the company, valued at $247,054.20. The trade was a 59.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 136,050 shares of company stock valued at $3,277,609 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xencor

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Xencor by 147.3% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,120,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $62,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,440 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Xencor by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,455,350 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,273,000 after buying an additional 17,658 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its position in Xencor by 22.9% during the third quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 670,431 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,482,000 after buying an additional 125,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Xencor by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 626,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,609,000 after acquiring an additional 40,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RA Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Xencor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,563,000.

Xencor Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of XNCR stock opened at $18.28 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.06. Xencor has a 1 year low of $15.31 and a 1 year high of $27.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 6.23 and a quick ratio of 6.23.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.98) by $0.27. The business had revenue of $10.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.59 million. Xencor had a negative return on equity of 30.92% and a negative net margin of 232.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 81.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.40) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Xencor will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on XNCR shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Xencor in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Xencor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective (up previously from $32.00) on shares of Xencor in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Xencor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Xencor from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.88.

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.