Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Exelixis from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Exelixis from $56.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, October 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.85.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $70.58 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.84. Exelixis has a 1 year low of $39.71 and a 1 year high of $73.69. The company has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.45% and a return on equity of 45.54%. The company had revenue of $658.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Exelixis will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,107 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076 shares during the last quarter. Focus Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Exelixis by 71.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 45,488 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,657,000 after buying an additional 18,885 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new stake in Exelixis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Exelixis by 164.6% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 27,282 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,594,000 after buying an additional 16,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,344,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing medicines for cancer. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Alameda, California, the company has built its business around oncology treatments and continues to advance a pipeline of potential cancer therapies. Its principal marketed medicine is cabozantinib, sold in the United States as Cabometyx and Cometriq. Cabometyx is used to treat certain patients with advanced kidney, liver and thyroid cancers, while Cometriq is used for medullary thyroid cancer.