Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Hits New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Exelixis shares reached a new 52-week high of $65.58, trading modestly above the prior close and well above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $51.50, below its current trading level, despite several recent target increases and one reaffirmed “Buy” rating.
• Exelixis reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, beating estimates, while revenue rose 10.6% year over year to $628.69 million. Institutional investors own a substantial 85.27% of the shares, although a director recently sold part of her stake under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $65.58 and last traded at $65.2550, with a volume of 152,200 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $64.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EXEL. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Exelixis from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Exelixis in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group set a $55.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Exelixis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.2%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.19 and a 200 day moving average of $53.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.47.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $628.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.40 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.33% and a return on equity of 42.17%. Exelixis's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Exelixis news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total transaction of $526,511.92. Following the sale, the director owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,799.14. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the second quarter worth $1,581,991,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Exelixis by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,597 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $184,391,000 after acquiring an additional 39,920 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Exelixis by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,388,920 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $145,351,000 after acquiring an additional 58,149 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 30.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,149,397 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $116,949,000 after acquiring an additional 504,660 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in Exelixis during the second quarter valued at about $113,951,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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