Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reiterated by research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $29.00 price objective on the biotechnology company's stock. Stephens' price target indicates a potential downside of 17.14% from the company's current price.

EXEL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America lowered Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Exelixis from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Brookline Capital Management assumed coverage on Exelixis in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Exelixis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.24.

Exelixis Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ EXEL traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $35.00. 2,854,977 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,601,778. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.19 and a 200-day moving average of $30.88. Exelixis has a one year low of $20.14 and a one year high of $37.59. The stock has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,823,783.53. This represents a 10.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total value of $352,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 278,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,828,514.55. This represents a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 111,588 shares of company stock valued at $3,981,864. 2.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXEL. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Exelixis by 308.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,975,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $132,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,001,204 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth $94,867,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in Exelixis by 330.4% during the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,484,395 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $82,730,000 after buying an additional 1,907,167 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,159,395 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $105,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,790,855 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $46,473,000 after purchasing an additional 991,494 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.