Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR) saw strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 425,273 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the previous session’s volume of 895,292 shares.The stock last traded at $26.1560 and had previously closed at $26.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on XNCR. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Xencor from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Xencor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Xencor from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Xencor from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Xencor from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

Xencor Trading Up 2.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.86 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.01.

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.80) by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 million. Xencor had a negative net margin of 155.59% and a negative return on equity of 28.66%. Xencor’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.41) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xencor, Inc. will post -3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xencor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Johnson & Johnson acquired a new stake in Xencor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $12,043,798. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Xencor by 620.4% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 720,440 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,030,000 after purchasing an additional 620,440 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Xencor in the second quarter valued at approximately $163,919,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Xencor in the second quarter valued at approximately $219,785,000. Finally, DCF Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xencor in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,670,000.

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.