Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.33.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EXEL. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays cut Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. TheStreet raised Exelixis from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, February 7th.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In related news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $461,112.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $857,229.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the business’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 value of $461,112.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $857,229.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Edward Johnson purchased 190,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.70 per share, for a total transaction of $3,933,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,100,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,785,111. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXEL. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 232.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $21.90 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.24. Exelixis has a 52-week low of $18.52 and a 52-week high of $24.34. The company has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $425.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.04 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Exelixis will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.