Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Shares Up 6.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)’s stock price shot up 6.7% on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $38.00 to $45.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Exelixis traded as high as $35.37 and last traded at $35.01. 649,341 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 2,427,834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.81.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on EXEL. UBS Group increased their price target on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Exelixis from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America cut shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.00.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total value of $352,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 278,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,828,514.55. This represents a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total transaction of $2,200,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,823,783.53. This represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,588 shares of company stock worth $3,981,864 in the last 90 days. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth about $94,867,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,159,395 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $105,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,482 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,790,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,473,000 after purchasing an additional 991,494 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,562,790 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,884,000 after purchasing an additional 704,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P lifted its stake in Exelixis by 203.8% during the fourth quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 975,151 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,473,000 after purchasing an additional 654,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Down 0.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.24 and its 200 day moving average is $30.72.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.