Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Rating Lowered to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on EXEL. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Exelixis from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Exelixis from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group set a $55.00 price objective on Exelixis in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.79.

Exelixis Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of EXEL opened at $70.13 on Friday. Exelixis has a twelve month low of $36.00 and a twelve month high of $72.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.47.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $658.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $646.51 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.33% and a return on equity of 42.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Exelixis will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total value of $526,511.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,799.14. This represents a 37.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the first quarter valued at about $476,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the second quarter worth about $4,324,000. L2 Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the second quarter worth about $6,839,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Exelixis during the second quarter worth about $1,581,991,000. Finally, JLB & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Exelixis during the second quarter worth about $2,658,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Exelixis

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.