Citizens Jmp Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock

Key Points

• Citizens JMP raised Exelixis’s price target from $50 to $55 and kept an “market outperform” rating, implying roughly 7% upside from the previous close.
• Recent analyst sentiment is mixed but generally positive, with several firms lifting targets and ratings; the broader consensus remains “Hold” with an average price target of $46.67.
• Exelixis posted better-than-expected quarterly results, including EPS of $0.87 versus $0.75 expected and revenue growth of 10% year over year, while insiders have recently sold shares.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by Citizens Jmp from $50.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market outperform" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. Citizens Jmp's price objective points to a potential upside of 7.13% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on EXEL. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Exelixis from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Exelixis from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.67.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of EXEL opened at $51.34 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $49.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.32. Exelixis has a 1 year low of $33.76 and a 1 year high of $53.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.41.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Exelixis's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Exelixis will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,187,757.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 594,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,945,209.35. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director George Poste sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.71, for a total value of $2,742,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 118,832 shares in the company, valued at $5,431,810.72. This represents a 33.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 219,170 shares of company stock worth $10,620,641 in the last ninety days. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Exelixis by 48.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,658,388 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $598,647,000 after buying an additional 4,477,029 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $805,412,000 after buying an additional 3,466,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at $106,460,000. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 100.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,655,069 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $109,654,000 after buying an additional 1,328,087 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Exelixis by 1,821.0% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,188,105 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $52,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126,256 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

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.

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