Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.29.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EXEL. Barclays increased their price target on Exelixis from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet raised shares of Exelixis from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Exelixis in a research report on Friday, December 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $23.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.09. Exelixis has a 1 year low of $18.08 and a 1 year high of $24.34.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. Exelixis had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $479.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $481.23 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Exelixis will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In related news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $461,112.05. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,703 shares in the company, valued at $857,229.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total value of $1,008,579.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,866 shares in the company, valued at $8,255,375.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $461,112.05. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $857,229.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 7,995.2% in the 3rd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,679 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

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.