Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Position in Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 188,480 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 14,543 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Xencor worth $3,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xencor by 9.4% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 232,375 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,399,000 after purchasing an additional 20,043 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in Xencor by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 9,116,202 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $172,570,000 after buying an additional 25,495 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Xencor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $753,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Xencor by 100.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 155,568 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,128,000 after acquiring an additional 78,066 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Xencor by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,459,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,628,000 after acquiring an additional 87,979 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on XNCR shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price (up previously from $32.00) on shares of Xencor in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Xencor from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler raised Xencor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Xencor in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Xencor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Xencor presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.56.

Xencor Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XNCR opened at $24.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 6.23 and a current ratio of 6.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.53 and a 200 day moving average of $20.69. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of -7.59 and a beta of 0.69. Xencor, Inc. has a one year low of $15.31 and a one year high of $27.24.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Xencor

In related news, VP John R. Desjarlais sold 68,684 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.48, for a total value of $1,612,700.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 200,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,698,441.92. This represents a 25.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Alan Bruce Montgomery sold 1,421 shares of Xencor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.03, for a total transaction of $38,409.63. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $247,054.20. This trade represents a 13.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 136,050 shares of company stock valued at $3,277,609 over the last quarter. 5.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.