Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Given New $60.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $53.00 to $60.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

EXEL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Exelixis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. UBS Group set a $55.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Exelixis from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.21.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of EXEL stock opened at $69.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.47. Exelixis has a one year low of $36.00 and a one year high of $72.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.92.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $658.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.51 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.45% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Exelixis will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total transaction of $526,511.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at $862,799.14. This represents a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 3rd quarter worth about $60,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Exelixis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $557,000. Signature Equity Partners LLC boosted its position in Exelixis by 194.0% in the third quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 4,134 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 2,728 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Exelixis in the third quarter valued at about $1,402,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in Exelixis by 36.0% in the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 42,521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,484,000 after buying an additional 11,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Exelixis

Here are the key news stories impacting Exelixis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings and revenue beat expectations: Exelixis reported adjusted EPS of $0.94 versus the $0.89 consensus estimate and revenue of $658.7 million versus expectations of approximately $646.5 million. Revenue increased 10.2% year over year. EXEL Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Strong Cabometyx Sales
• Positive Sentiment: CABOMETYX remained the key growth driver: U.S. net product revenue reached roughly $605 million, with franchise revenue growth of about 11% year over year, supporting confidence in Exelixis’ core commercial business.
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns and financial strength supported sentiment: The company repurchased approximately $250 million of stock during the quarter and ended the period with about $1.4 billion in cash and marketable securities.
• Positive Sentiment: Pipeline catalyst is approaching: Exelixis outlined a March 3, 2027 FDA decision date for zanzalintinib, while continuing preparations for additional pivotal studies. Exelixis outlines March 3, 2027 PDUFA for zanza
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target to $76 from $55 and assigned a Buy rating, adding to the bullish reaction following the earnings release. TD Cowen Exelixis ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed: Morgan Stanley raised its target to $60 but maintained Equalweight, while Truist, RBC, Barclays and other firms also lifted targets that remain below the current trading level.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider trading presents a cautionary signal: Six reported insider open-market transactions over the past six months were sales, with no purchases. This may temper enthusiasm despite the favorable quarterly results.

Exelixis Company Profile

Exelixis, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing medicines for cancer and other serious diseases. The company’s research programs center primarily on targeted therapies, including treatments designed to inhibit signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and progression.

Exelixis’ lead product is CABOMETYX (cabozantinib), an oral medicine approved in the United States for certain patients with renal cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and differentiated thyroid cancer.