Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $59.08 and last traded at $58.2450, with a volume of 187460 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.89.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Exelixis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.07.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total transaction of $526,511.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,799.14. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Exelixis during the 1st quarter worth about $476,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the second quarter valued at about $4,324,000. L2 Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the second quarter valued at about $6,839,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,539,421 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $111,303,000 after acquiring an additional 28,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the second quarter worth about $1,581,991,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Up 1.0%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.98 and a 200 day moving average of $49.44. The company has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.42.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.06. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.33% and a return on equity of 42.17%. The business had revenue of $628.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Exelixis

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.