Wall Street Zen Upgrades Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) to Strong-Buy

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Exelixis from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exelixis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.45.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of Exelixis stock opened at $41.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.40. Exelixis has a fifty-two week low of $31.90 and a fifty-two week high of $49.62. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.79.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $597.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $590.04 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 31.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 24,622 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total transaction of $1,032,400.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,463.40. This represents a 53.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 48,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.50, for a total value of $2,056,277.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 664,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,253,065. The trade was a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 245,235 shares of company stock worth $10,490,600. Corporate insiders own 2.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Exelixis by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 22,292 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 0.3% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 102,581 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,521,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 95.1% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 599 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Cim LLC lifted its stake in Exelixis by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cim LLC now owns 35,397 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,450 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelixis Company Profile

Exelixis, Inc, an oncology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of new medicines for difficult-to-treat cancers in the United States. The company offers CABOMETYX tablets for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who received prior anti-angiogenic therapy; and COMETRIQ capsules for the treatment of progressive and metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.