Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $39.90 and last traded at $39.94, with a volume of 1018102 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley raised Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.59.

Remove Ads

Exelixis Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.33.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total value of $388,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $1,059,407.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 779,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,174,996.98. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234. 2.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 308.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,975,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $132,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,001,204 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,867,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 330.4% during the fourth 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 raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,159,395 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $105,208,000 after buying an additional 1,613,482 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,321,000. 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.