Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $56.00 to $78.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Exelixis traded as high as $72.34 and last traded at $72.2040, with a volume of 316,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.13.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on EXEL. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Exelixis from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group set a $55.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total transaction of $526,511.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at $862,799.14. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Client Services LLC increased its holdings in Exelixis by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Private Client Services LLC now owns 28,539 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Exelixis by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 59,420 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Brindle & Bay Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Exelixis by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brindle & Bay Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,868 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 757 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $59.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.05. The stock has a market cap of $17.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.47.

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

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.