Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America downgraded Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.24.

Exelixis Stock Up 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL traded up $1.76 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.85. The stock had a trading volume of 3,489,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,627,130. Exelixis has a 12 month low of $20.14 and a 12 month high of $37.59. The company has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's fifty day moving average is $34.16 and its 200 day moving average is $31.14.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. Equities research analysts expect that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total value of $2,200,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 486,059 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. The trade was a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,429,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $979,994,000 after acquiring an additional 121,750 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,169,847 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $272,056,000 after acquiring an additional 67,470 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,630,940 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $254,110,000 after acquiring an additional 708,312 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,967,005 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $132,101,000 after acquiring an additional 810,857 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.