StockNews.com Downgrades Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on EXEL. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, January 27th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.24.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $34.49 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.21 and a 200-day moving average of $30.75. The company has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.53. Exelixis has a 52-week low of $20.14 and a 52-week high of $37.59.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share 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, equities analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

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.