Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.13.

Several research firms recently commented on EXEL. StockNews.com raised Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 13th. Barclays downgraded Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens began coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Exelixis from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of EXEL stock opened at $22.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.19. Exelixis has a 1-year low of $18.64 and a 1-year high of $24.34.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $425.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.04 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Exelixis will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,287 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.00, for a total transaction of $182,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 349,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,688,978. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,287 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.00, for a total transaction of $182,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 349,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,688,978. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Edward Johnson purchased 225,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.76 per share, with a total value of $4,671,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,525,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,674,154.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,896 shares of company stock worth $660,677. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 232.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Exelixis

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.