Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock Price Up 6.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)’s stock price shot up 6.7% during trading on Wednesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $38.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Exelixis traded as high as $35.37 and last traded at $35.01. 649,341 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 2,427,834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.81.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on EXEL. Oppenheimer cut shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America cut shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 41,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total transaction of $1,428,963.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 288,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,918,529.40. The trade was a 12.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,823,783.53. This represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,588 shares of company stock worth $3,981,864 over the last 90 days. 2.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXEL. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Exelixis by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelixis Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.71. The company has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.