Leerink Partners Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Leerink Partners from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Leerink Partners‘s target price points to a potential downside of 15.59% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on EXEL. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Friday, September 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Exelixis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.85.

Exelixis Stock Performance

EXEL traded down $4.04 on Thursday, hitting $68.71. 3,803,720 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,610,400. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.32. Exelixis has a 12 month low of $39.71 and a 12 month high of $73.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.77 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.45.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Exelixis had a return on equity of 45.54% and a net margin of 35.45%. The firm had revenue of $658.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.51 million. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Exelixis will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total value of $526,511.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,799.14. This trade represents a 37.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Exelixis in the second quarter worth $1,581,991,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 2nd quarter valued at $113,951,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 2nd quarter valued at $107,803,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 2nd quarter valued at $67,299,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Exelixis by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,534,992 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $108,726,000 after purchasing an additional 970,144 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing medicines for cancer and other serious diseases. The company’s research programs center primarily on targeted therapies, including treatments designed to inhibit signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and progression.

Exelixis’ lead product is CABOMETYX (cabozantinib), an oral medicine approved in the United States for certain patients with renal cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and differentiated thyroid cancer.