Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock Price

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

EXEL has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Brookline Capital Management initiated coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.59.

Exelixis Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $36.80 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $35.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.33. The company has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. Exelixis has a 1-year low of $20.14 and a 1-year high of $40.02.

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

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $694,600.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,396.50. This represents a 35.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on 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 owns 341,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,231,886.40. The trade was a 2.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have 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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Exelixis by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Exelixis by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Exelixis by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Exelixis by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 58,159 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,937,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Exelixis by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.