Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $56.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Exelixis traded as high as $45.29 and last traded at $44.04, with a volume of 3658908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.95.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on EXEL. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $47.00 price target (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelixis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $1,059,407.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 779,607 shares in the company, valued at $28,174,996.98. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $694,600.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,396.50. The trade was a 35.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 129,641 shares of company stock valued at $4,810,161 over the last 90 days. 2.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 211.3% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 769 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 616.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Exelixis by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.68.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc, an oncology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of new medicines for difficult-to-treat cancers in the United States. The company offers CABOMETYX tablets for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who received prior anti-angiogenic therapy; and COMETRIQ capsules for the treatment of progressive and metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.