HC Wainwright Raises Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Price Target to $47.00

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at HC Wainwright from $40.00 to $47.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's price target points to a potential upside of 12.49% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.76.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of EXEL traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $41.78. 2,192,721 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,351,246. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.79. Exelixis has a 12-month low of $21.36 and a 12-month high of $48.85. The firm has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.28.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total transaction of $58,812.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 693,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,034,059. The trade was a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 126,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 446,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,412,173.64. This represents a 22.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 458,113 shares of company stock valued at $21,024,817 in the last three months. 2.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 121,750 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Exelixis by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,169,847 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $272,056,000 after buying an additional 67,470 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,795,074 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $287,794,000 after buying an additional 164,134 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 73.8% during the 1st 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 40.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,572,189 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $205,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,948 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

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.