Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Given New $48.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $48.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the biotechnology company's stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Exelixis from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Stephens raised Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $29.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Exelixis from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on Exelixis from $29.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up from $45.00) on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.33.

Exelixis Trading Down 1.3%

Exelixis stock traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,188,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,925,684. Exelixis has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $49.62. The company has a market capitalization of $12.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, Director Stelios Papadopoulos sold 36,508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.35, for a total transaction of $1,619,129.80. Following the sale, the director owned 1,279,416 shares in the company, valued at $56,742,099.60. This represents a 2.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 126,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.96, for a total value of $6,061,328.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 446,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,412,173.64. This represents a 22.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 458,113 shares of company stock valued at $21,024,817 in the last quarter. 2.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Exelixis by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,429,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $979,994,000 after acquiring an additional 121,750 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,169,847 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $272,056,000 after purchasing an additional 67,470 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 2.2% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,795,074 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $287,794,000 after purchasing an additional 164,134 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 73.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,893,889 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $250,869,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,884 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 40.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,572,189 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $205,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,948 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Company Profile

Exelixis, Inc, an oncology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of new medicines for difficult-to-treat cancers in the United States. The company offers CABOMETYX tablets for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who received prior anti-angiogenic therapy; and COMETRIQ capsules for the treatment of progressive and metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.