Bank of America Downgrades Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) to Neutral

Bank of America cut shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has $39.00 price objective on the biotechnology company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $35.00.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Exelixis to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.88.

Exelixis Trading Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ EXEL traded down $1.38 on Tuesday, hitting $34.69. 2,235,182 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,054,013. The company has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.85 and a 200 day moving average of $27.29. Exelixis has a twelve month low of $19.20 and a twelve month high of $36.97.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $539.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $490.31 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. Exelixis's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Exelixis will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,162 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.40, for a total value of $36,486.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 498,945 shares in the company, valued at $15,666,873. This represents a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.38, for a total transaction of $659,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 605,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,968,473.50. This trade represents a 3.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 339,736 shares of company stock worth $11,508,610 over the last ninety days. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 5.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,335 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,746 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 50,497 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 71,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,611,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Exelixis by 3.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,853 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.