Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Exelixis has an average “Hold” rating from 20 brokerages, with 12 holds, six buys, one strong buy, and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $50.29.
• The stock opened at $57.22 and has traded between $33.76 and $59.72 over the past year. Its latest quarterly results beat EPS expectations, reporting $0.91 versus the $0.85 consensus, while revenue rose 10.6% year over year but came in below estimates.
• Institutional investors own approximately 85.27% of Exelixis, with major new positions from BlackRock, Norges Bank, and other large funds. A company director sold 9,812 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.2857.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EXEL shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Exelixis from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Exelixis from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th.

Exelixis Stock Down 2.0%

EXEL opened at $57.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.42. Exelixis has a twelve month low of $33.76 and a twelve month high of $59.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.62.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $628.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.40 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 42.17% and a net margin of 35.33%.Exelixis's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Exelixis will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In related news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total value of $526,511.92. Following the sale, the director owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,799.14. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Exelixis in the second quarter valued at $1,581,991,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,460,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in Exelixis during the second quarter worth approximately $113,951,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Exelixis during the second quarter worth approximately $107,803,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,299,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Company Profile

Exelixis, Inc NASDAQ: EXEL is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing medicines for cancer and other serious diseases. The company's research and development activities center on targeted therapies designed to address biological pathways involved in tumor growth and progression.

Exelixis' principal product is cabozantinib, marketed in the United States as CABOMETYX tablets for certain patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.

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