Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Price Target Raised to $34.00 at UBS Group

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

EXEL has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday. Bank of America lowered Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelixis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.06.

Exelixis Stock Performance

EXEL stock opened at $32.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.53. Exelixis has a 1 year low of $20.01 and a 1 year high of $37.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.96.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.31 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. Exelixis’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Exelixis will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director George Poste sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.00, for a total value of $1,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 169,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,746,680. This trade represents a 15.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 41,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total value of $1,428,963.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 288,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,918,529.40. This trade represents a 12.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 288,574 shares of company stock worth $10,102,874 in the last three months. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in Exelixis by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 21,731 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 3,431 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth about $7,455,000. Paragon Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,642,000. Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Exelixis by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 9,010 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelixis Company Profile

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.