Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Exelixis' shares gapped down to $38.26 after Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target from $50.00 to $45.00, closing at $37.39 later in the day.
• The company reported earnings of $0.75 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, but revenue decreased by **10.8%** year-over-year, totaling $568.26 million.
• Insider selling activity was significant, with insiders divesting approximately **458,113 shares** valued at over **$21 million** in the past 90 days.

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $56.00 to $49.00. The stock had previously closed at $44.39, but opened at $38.26. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Exelixis shares last traded at $37.39, with a volume of 2,137,821 shares traded.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.44.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other news, Director Stelios Papadopoulos sold 36,508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.35, for a total value of $1,619,129.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $4,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 967,842 shares in the company, valued at $44,520,732. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 456,605 shares of company stock valued at $20,966,005 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.82% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 32.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,457 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,046,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 1,637.9% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 746,286 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $24,851,000 after purchasing an additional 703,343 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 10.6% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 23.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 248,073 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $9,159,000 after purchasing an additional 47,845 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelixis Price Performance

The company's 50 day moving average price is $43.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.89. The firm has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.28.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The biotechnology company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.12. Exelixis had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 27.47%. The business had revenue of $568.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Exelixis

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.