Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Price Target Raised to $40.00

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) had its price target lifted by HC Wainwright from $29.00 to $40.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on EXEL. Brookline Capital Management started coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Exelixis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.69.

Exelixis Stock Up 4.4 %

EXEL opened at $36.02 on Friday. Exelixis has a twelve month low of $20.01 and a twelve month high of $36.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.90. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. The business had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Exelixis will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Exelixis news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total transaction of $709,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 580,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,475,426.75. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 41,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total value of $1,428,963.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 288,665 shares in the company, valued at $9,918,529.40. This trade represents a 12.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 314,736 shares of company stock valued at $10,849,110 in the last three months. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 124.0% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,790,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,473,000 after purchasing an additional 991,494 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Exelixis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $14,979,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Exelixis by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 27,102,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $608,993,000 after buying an additional 424,000 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Exelixis by 12.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,281,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $73,425,000 after buying an additional 370,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 263.1% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 483,064 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,536,000 after acquiring an additional 350,026 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.