Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,620,000 shares, a growth of 26.2% from the March 31st total of 6,830,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $461,112.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $857,229.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Exelixis news, Director David Edward Johnson acquired 190,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.70 per share, with a total value of $3,933,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,100,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,785,111. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $461,112.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,703 shares in the company, valued at $857,229.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in Exelixis by 1.5% during the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 40,855 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 44.2% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 17.1% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,577 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 232.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 145,343 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,560,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,843,234. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.19. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.54. Exelixis has a fifty-two week low of $18.08 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $479.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $481.23 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 8.57%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Exelixis from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet raised shares of Exelixis from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.29.

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.