Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Sunday.

EXEL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Exelixis from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Exelixis from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Exelixis from a “market outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.11.

Exelixis Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $45.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.35. The stock has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.42. Exelixis has a 12 month low of $32.38 and a 12 month high of $49.62.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $598.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $609.17 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 36.29% and a net margin of 33.73%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 29,873 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.35, for a total transaction of $1,324,867.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 664,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,449,464.40. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bob Oliver sold 30,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.81, for a total transaction of $1,325,252.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $925,267.20. This trade represents a 58.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 314,931 shares of company stock worth $13,785,112 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Exelixis by 48.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $805,412,000 after acquiring an additional 3,466,000 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1,230.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,195,971 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $131,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,955,813 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $122,099,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 120.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 3,047,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $134,306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665,110 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.