Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $52.18 and last traded at $51.9580, with a volume of 536285 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Exelixis from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research cut Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial raised Exelixis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Exelixis from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Exelixis from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.35.

Exelixis Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.10. The company has a market cap of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.38.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.51 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 39.89% and a net margin of 35.08%.Exelixis’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, SVP Brenda Hefti sold 6,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.21, for a total value of $332,641.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 106,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,520.02. This trade represents a 5.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 32,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $1,599,399.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 357,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,813,948.78. This represents a 8.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 161,982 shares of company stock valued at $7,742,501 in the last ninety days. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Exelixis by 21.6% in the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $805,412,000 after buying an additional 3,466,000 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Exelixis by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,658,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $598,647,000 after buying an additional 4,477,029 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,054,743 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $265,379,000 after purchasing an additional 94,218 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 0.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $184,391,000 after purchasing an additional 39,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,206,656 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $184,378,000 after purchasing an additional 995,949 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelixis Company Profile

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis’s translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company’s most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.