Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $32.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Exelixis traded as high as $28.66 and last traded at $28.27, with a volume of 1640399 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.24.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on EXEL. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Exelixis from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price (up from $32.00) on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 95,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 520,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,024,750. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Exelixis news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 20,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total transaction of $515,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 630,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,256,081.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 95,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $2,375,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 520,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,024,750. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 327,858 shares of company stock worth $8,640,129. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Exelixis by 232.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 107.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 537.2% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,746 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $26.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.68. The company has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.36, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $637.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.21 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 15.54%. As a group, analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal 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.