Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.06.

EXEL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on Exelixis from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Exelixis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total transaction of $1,706,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 530,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,099,992.25. This represents a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total transaction of $352,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 278,665 shares in the company, valued at $9,828,514.55. This represents a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 288,574 shares of company stock worth $10,102,874. 2.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Exelixis by 5.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Exelixis by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Exelixis by 0.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 71,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,611,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Trading Up 1.1 %

Exelixis stock opened at $32.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.99. Exelixis has a twelve month low of $20.01 and a twelve month high of $37.59.

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

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.