Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $36.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 2.31% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Brookline Capital Management began coverage on Exelixis in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.24.

Exelixis Trading Up 5.0 %

EXEL opened at $36.85 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.32. The company has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53. Exelixis has a 12-month low of $20.14 and a 12-month high of $37.59.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. On average, analysts predict that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,561.28. The trade was a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total value of $2,200,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 486,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,823,783.53. The trade was a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 616.9% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 62.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors 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.