Exelixis’ (EXEL) Buy Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer cut Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.06.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $32.96 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.53. Exelixis has a 52-week low of $20.01 and a 52-week high of $37.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $34.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.99.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $539.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.31 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 486,059 shares in the company, valued at $17,823,783.53. This represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director George Poste sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.00, for a total transaction of $1,020,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 169,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,746,680. This represents a 15.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 288,574 shares of company stock worth $10,102,874 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Exelixis by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Exelixis by 5.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Exelixis by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in Exelixis by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 71,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,611,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Exelixis by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

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.