HC Wainwright Reaffirms Buy Rating for Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.99% from the company’s previous close.

EXEL has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer lowered Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Brookline Capital Management assumed coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.59.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $36.70 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $35.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.22. Exelixis has a 1 year low of $20.14 and a 1 year high of $40.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total value of $694,600.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,396.50. This trade represents a 35.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $1,946,479.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares in the company, valued at $11,216,403.80. This trade represents a 14.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 29,113 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 3.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,853 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Exelixis by 129.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 15,777 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $591,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 104,385 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 35,496 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.