Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Lowered to Equal Weight at Barclays

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Barclays from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $25.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock. Barclays's target price indicates a potential upside of 10.38% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on EXEL. TheStreet raised shares of Exelixis from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, January 26th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Friday, December 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.29.

Exelixis Stock Down 4.3 %

NASDAQ EXEL traded down $1.03 on Thursday, reaching $22.65. The company had a trading volume of 2,357,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,306,990. The company's fifty day moving average is $22.26 and its 200 day moving average is $22.10. Exelixis has a 52-week low of $18.08 and a 52-week high of $24.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. Exelixis had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $479.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.23 million. On average, research analysts expect that Exelixis will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, Director David Edward Johnson purchased 190,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.70 per share, with a total value of $3,933,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,100,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,785,111. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total transaction of $1,008,579.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 384,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,255,375.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Edward Johnson bought 190,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.70 per share, with a total value of $3,933,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,100,730 shares in the company, valued at $22,785,111. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in Exelixis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $325,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 32,884,561 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $745,493,000 after purchasing an additional 607,183 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 171,286 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,990,000 after purchasing an additional 11,941 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1.2% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 166,497 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,931 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Exelixis in the first quarter worth $12,872,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.