Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Exelixis shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $72.34 after HC Wainwright raised its price target from $56 to $78 and maintained a Buy rating.
• Analyst views remain mixed: Exelixis has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $56.79, despite recent bullish upgrades from TD Cowen and HC Wainwright.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings and revenue beat, with EPS of $0.94 versus estimates of $0.89 and revenue of $658.7 million, up 10.2% year over year.

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $56.00 to $78.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Exelixis traded as high as $72.34 and last traded at $72.2040, with a volume of 316,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.13.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. Barclays raised their price objective on Exelixis from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $55.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Exelixis from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered Exelixis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total value of $526,511.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $862,799.14. This trade represents a 37.90% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Client Services LLC raised its holdings in Exelixis by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Private Client Services LLC now owns 28,539 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 59,420 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Brindle & Bay Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brindle & Bay Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 7.0% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,868 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 124.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 757 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Stock Up 3.2%

The business's 50 day moving average is $59.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.05. The firm has a market cap of $17.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.47.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.33% and a return on equity of 42.17%. The business had revenue of $658.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $646.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing medicines for cancer and other serious diseases. The company's research programs center primarily on targeted therapies, including treatments designed to inhibit signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and progression.

Exelixis' lead product is CABOMETYX (cabozantinib), an oral medicine approved in the United States for certain patients with renal cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and differentiated thyroid cancer.

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