Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Trading 6.2% Higher – Should You Buy?

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) traded up 6.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $51.41 and last traded at $51.5560. 1,316,339 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 2,719,704 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Exelixis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Exelixis Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.76 and its 200-day moving average is $44.47. The firm has a market cap of $13.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.41.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,187,757.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 594,741 shares in the company, valued at $29,945,209.35. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sue Gail Eckhardt sold 9,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total value of $491,973.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,201.06. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 219,170 shares of company stock valued at $10,620,641 in the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exelixis by 21.6% during the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $805,412,000 after purchasing an additional 3,466,000 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exelixis by 48.8% during 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. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Exelixis by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,054,743 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $265,379,000 after purchasing an additional 94,218 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Exelixis by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $184,391,000 after purchasing an additional 39,920 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Exelixis by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,206,656 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $184,378,000 after purchasing an additional 995,949 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Company Profile

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.