Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $37.64 and last traded at $37.51, with a volume of 509533 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on EXEL. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Brookline Capital Management initiated coverage on Exelixis in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.24.

Exelixis Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.46. The company has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its earnings results 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, equities research analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Exelixis news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 486,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,823,783.53. This trade represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,561.28. This represents a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $979,994,000 after acquiring an additional 121,750 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Exelixis by 0.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 708,312 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 308.1% in the fourth 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 raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,967,005 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $132,101,000 after acquiring an additional 810,857 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.