Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.06.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EXEL. Oppenheimer downgraded Exelixis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday.

Exelixis Stock Performance

EXEL traded up $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $33.04. 956,440 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,677,323. Exelixis has a fifty-two week low of $20.01 and a fifty-two week high of $37.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.53. The business's fifty day moving average is $34.77 and its 200 day moving average is $29.99.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.31 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. Exelixis's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. Analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 96,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $3,394,510.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 498,945 shares in the company, valued at $17,463,075. This represents a 16.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 50,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total value of $1,706,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 530,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,099,992.25. The trade was a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 288,574 shares of company stock valued at $10,102,874. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Exelixis by 84.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,231 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 5,137 shares during the period. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP purchased a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth about $233,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Exelixis by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 252,324 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $8,402,000 after purchasing an additional 78,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,562,790 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $52,884,000 after purchasing an additional 704,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.