Mary Beckerle Sells 7,712 Shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Director Mary Beckerle sold 7,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.45, for a total value of $373,646.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,037.80. The trade was a 30.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Exelixis Price Performance

Exelixis stock opened at $48.16 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $43.44 and its 200 day moving average is $42.97. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $33.76 and a one year high of $49.62. The firm has a market cap of $12.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.38.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.12. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.08% and a return on equity of 39.89%. The business had revenue of $610.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Exelixis

Here are the key news stories impacting Exelixis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Exelixis reported solid Q1 results, with revenue of $610.8 million and earnings per share of $0.87, both ahead of expectations. The company also completed its prior buyback authorization and launched a new $750 million share repurchase program, which can support the stock by reducing share count. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive, with HC Wainwright raising its price target to $56 and Morgan Stanley lifting its target to $50, signaling improved confidence in Exelixis’ outlook. Article Title Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced upcoming investor conference appearances in May, which may help keep investor attention on its pipeline and strategy. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several directors disclosed stock sales on May 7, including George Poste, Maria C. Freire, and Mary C. Beckerle. Insider selling can create some near-term caution, but the transactions were disclosed and do not by themselves indicate a change in the business outlook. Article Title Article Title Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EXEL. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Exelixis by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,658,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $598,647,000 after purchasing an additional 4,477,029 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 21.6% during the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $805,412,000 after purchasing an additional 3,466,000 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1,230.8% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,195,971 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $131,994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955,813 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth about $106,460,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 153.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,462,948 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $101,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,520 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis’s translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company’s most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.