Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $40.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $30.00.

EXEL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Exelixis from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.81.

Exelixis Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $32.72 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $34.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.89. The stock has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.53. Exelixis has a fifty-two week low of $20.01 and a fifty-two week high of $37.59.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued 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 return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. The business had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Exelixis will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,162 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.40, for a total value of $36,486.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 498,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,666,873. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total transaction of $1,706,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 530,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,099,992.25. The trade was a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 289,736 shares of company stock worth $10,139,360 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 124.0% during 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 buying an additional 991,494 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 3rd quarter worth $14,979,000. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at about $12,267,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Exelixis by 263.1% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 483,064 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,536,000 after purchasing an additional 350,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 24.6% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 911,497 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,653,000 after purchasing an additional 180,021 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.