Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Short Interest Update

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 13,290,000 shares, a decrease of 17.7% from the February 13th total of 16,150,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days. Currently, 4.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Exelixis Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:EXEL traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.36. 1,934,008 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,071,092. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.60. Exelixis has a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a fifty-two week high of $40.02. The company has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other news, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $694,600.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,396.50. This represents a 35.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total transaction of $388,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 341,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,231,886.40. The trade was a 2.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Exelixis in the third quarter valued at $4,396,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Exelixis by 134.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,302 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 8,208 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Exelixis in the third quarter valued at $573,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Exelixis by 48.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 232,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,021,000 after purchasing an additional 75,489 shares during the period. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at $994,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.59.

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.