Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Trading Up 5.5% – Here’s Why

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) was up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $37.05 and last traded at $37.02. Approximately 2,073,819 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average daily volume of 2,581,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on EXEL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities 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, Exelixis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.24.

Exelixis Price Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.28. The stock has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released 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 return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. On average, analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. This trade represents a 28.65 % 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 Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total transaction of $2,200,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,823,783.53. This trade represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Exelixis by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,429,252 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $979,994,000 after buying an additional 121,750 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Exelixis by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,169,847 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $272,056,000 after purchasing an additional 67,470 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Exelixis by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,630,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $254,110,000 after purchasing an additional 708,312 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Exelixis by 308.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,975,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $132,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,001,204 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exelixis by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,967,005 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $132,101,000 after purchasing an additional 810,857 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Company Profile

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.