Morgan Stanley Upgrades Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) to Overweight

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) was upgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $40.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $30.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 23.53% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on EXEL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Exelixis from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.75.

Exelixis Stock Down 5.1 %

NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $32.38 on Monday. Exelixis has a 52 week low of $20.01 and a 52 week high of $37.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Exelixis will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total value of $2,200,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 486,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,823,783.53. This represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 96,986 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $3,394,510.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 498,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,463,075. This trade represents a 16.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 289,736 shares of company stock valued at $10,139,360. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Exelixis by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently 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.