Exelixis’ (EXEL) “Market Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reissued their market outperform rating on shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $27.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on EXEL. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. They set a buy rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Exelixis from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $26.29.

Exelixis Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $22.81 on Wednesday. Exelixis has a twelve month low of $18.08 and a twelve month high of $24.34. The company has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.64, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.11.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Exelixis had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $479.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.23 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Exelixis will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Exelixis by 232.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 7,995.2% in the third quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.