Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.24.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EXEL. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Brookline Capital Management initiated coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Exelixis Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $38.69 on Monday. Exelixis has a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a fifty-two week high of $38.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.62. The stock has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share 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, equities analysts anticipate that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total transaction of $331,430.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 356,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,479,669. This represents a 2.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 130,343 shares of company stock worth $4,789,234. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 308.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at $94,867,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 330.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Exelixis by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,159,395 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $105,208,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 124.0% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,790,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,473,000 after purchasing an additional 991,494 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.