Exelixis Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Key Points

• Exelixis, Inc. experienced a significant spike in options trading, with 12,250 call options traded, marking a 373% increase over the average daily volume of 2,588 call options.
• Insider sales included Executive VP Jeffrey Hessekiel selling 25,000 shares for $1.15 million and Director Stelios Papadopoulos selling 36,508 shares for $1.62 million, leading to a decrease in their ownership stakes by 3.48% and 2.77%, respectively.
• Despite a decrease in revenue of 10.8% year-over-year, Exelixis reported earnings of $0.75 per share, exceeding analyst estimates, with new projections indicating about 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 12,250 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 373% compared to the average daily volume of 2,588 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.44.

Exelixis Price Performance

NASDAQ EXEL traded down $0.09 on Wednesday, hitting $36.85. 5,145,503 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,353,186. The business's fifty day moving average is $43.17 and its 200 day moving average is $38.88. Exelixis has a 52 week low of $23.13 and a 52 week high of $49.62. The company has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.28.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The biotechnology company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $568.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, Director Sue Gail Eckhardt sold 18,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.74, for a total value of $805,136.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $913,781.20. This represents a 46.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 34,387 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $1,515,091.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 412,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,155,892.32. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 458,113 shares of company stock worth $21,024,817 in the last quarter. 2.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXEL. LSV Asset Management grew its stake 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 valued at $272,056,000 after acquiring an additional 67,470 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $287,794,000 after acquiring an additional 164,134 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $250,869,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,884 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Exelixis by 40.2% during 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. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Exelixis during the first quarter worth about $123,310,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.