Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Exelixis from “buy” to “strong buy.” Other analysts raised price targets, though the overall consensus remains “hold,” with an average target of $58.85.
• Exelixis beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.94 versus $0.89 forecast and revenue of $658.7 million versus $646.5 million expected. Revenue grew 10.2% year over year.
• The stock opened at $69.57, near its 52-week high of $73.69; institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of shares.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Monday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on EXEL. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Exelixis from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Exelixis from $55.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.85.

Exelixis Stock Performance

EXEL opened at $69.57 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.45. Exelixis has a 1 year low of $39.71 and a 1 year high of $73.69. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $60.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.45% and a return on equity of 45.54%. The company had revenue of $658.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $646.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Exelixis will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the second quarter worth approximately $1,581,991,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased 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 buying an additional 39,920 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,388,920 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $145,351,000 after acquiring an additional 58,149 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 21.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,427,976 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $140,677,000 after purchasing an additional 429,505 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Exelixis by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,149,397 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $116,949,000 after acquiring an additional 504,660 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing medicines for cancer. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Alameda, California, the company has built its business around oncology treatments and continues to advance a pipeline of potential cancer therapies.

Its principal marketed medicine is cabozantinib, sold in the United States as Cabometyx and Cometriq. Cabometyx is used to treat certain patients with advanced kidney, liver and thyroid cancers, while Cometriq is used for medullary thyroid cancer.

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