Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock Gets Price Target Increase from Leerink Partners

Key Points

• Leerink Partners raised Exelixis’ price target from $55 to $58 while maintaining a “market perform” rating; the new target implies about 15.6% downside from the stock’s then-current price.
• Analyst views remain mixed: MarketBeat reported a consensus “Hold” rating and average price target of $58.85, with targets ranging from $54 at Barclays to $76 at TD Cowen.
• Shares fell 5.6% to $68.71 on Thursday. In its latest quarter, Exelixis beat EPS and revenue estimates, with revenue up 10.2% year over year.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Leerink Partners from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "market perform" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. Leerink Partners's price target suggests a potential downside of 15.59% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Exelixis from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, October 19th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Exelixis from $55.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Exelixis from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.85.

Exelixis Trading Down 5.6%

NASDAQ EXEL traded down $4.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $68.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,803,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,610,400. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.45. Exelixis has a 12 month low of $39.71 and a 12 month high of $73.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.32.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.45% and a return on equity of 45.54%. The firm had revenue of $658.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total value of $526,511.92. Following the sale, the director directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 1st quarter valued at $476,000. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in Exelixis in the 2nd quarter worth $4,324,000. L2 Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Exelixis in the second quarter worth $6,839,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Exelixis in the second quarter worth $1,581,991,000. Finally, JLB & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Exelixis in the second quarter worth $2,658,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

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.

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