Short Interest in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Declines By 9.5%

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,090,000 shares, a drop of 9.5% from the January 15th total of 14,460,000 shares. Currently, 4.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Exelixis Stock Down 2.3 %

Exelixis stock opened at $34.20 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.08. The company has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.53. Exelixis has a 52-week low of $20.14 and a 52-week high of $37.59.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. Research analysts anticipate that Exelixis will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXEL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lowered Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total value of $2,200,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,823,783.53. The trade was a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total value of $352,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 278,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,828,514.55. This represents a 3.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 616.9% during 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 period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently 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.