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

Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.59.

EXEL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Brookline Capital Management started coverage on Exelixis in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Exelixis Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of EXEL opened at $35.74 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. Exelixis has a 52-week low of $20.14 and a 52-week high of $40.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.08.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its 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, equities analysts anticipate that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. The trade was a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total transaction of $1,946,479.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,216,403.80. This trade represents a 14.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,429,252 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $979,994,000 after buying an additional 121,750 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Exelixis by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,169,847 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $272,056,000 after buying an additional 67,470 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Exelixis by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,630,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $254,110,000 after buying an additional 708,312 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 308.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,967,005 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $132,101,000 after acquiring an additional 810,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

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.