Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Stephens raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $29.00. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Exelixis traded as high as $31.20 and last traded at $31.20, with a volume of 19800 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.73.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on EXEL. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 13th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total value of $3,398,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 721,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,622,479.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total value of $3,398,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 721,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,622,479.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 95,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $2,375,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 520,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,024,750. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 352,858 shares of company stock valued at $9,349,879 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heritage Investors Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis in the third quarter valued at $201,000. Capital Management Corp VA grew its position in Exelixis by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 365,270 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,479,000 after buying an additional 25,350 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 263.1% during the 3rd 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, Fort L.P. bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Trading Up 12.9 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.15. The company has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.44. Exelixis had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $637.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.21 million. Equities analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share 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.