Short Interest in Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR) Grows By 21.4%

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on XNCR shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price (up previously from $32.00) on shares of Xencor in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Xencor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Xencor in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Xencor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Xencor from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Xencor has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $34.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bassil I. Dahiyat sold 3,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total transaction of $80,851.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 352,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,469,812.30. This represents a 0.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alan Bruce Montgomery sold 1,421 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.03, for a total value of $38,409.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,140 shares in the company, valued at $247,054.20. This trade represents a 13.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 136,050 shares of company stock valued at $3,277,609. Insiders own 5.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xencor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Xencor during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Xencor by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,147 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Xencor by 63.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,123 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Xencor during the 3rd quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Xencor by 64.2% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,893 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 4,650 shares in the last quarter.

Xencor Price Performance

Shares of Xencor stock opened at $18.28 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.05. Xencor has a 12-month low of $15.31 and a 12-month high of $27.24. The company has a quick ratio of 6.23, a current ratio of 6.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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

Xencor Company Profile

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.