Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Exelixis shares reached a new 52-week high of $63.79 after Citizens JMP raised its price target from $55 to $65 and maintained an “outperform” rating.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed overall: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $51.50, below the stock’s recent trading level.
• Exelixis reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, beating estimates by $0.06, while revenue rose 10.6% year over year to $628.69 million; institutional investors own approximately 85.27% of the shares.

Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Citizens Jmp raised their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $65.00. Citizens Jmp currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Exelixis traded as high as $63.79 and last traded at $63.6180, with a volume of 62,485 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.68.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Exelixis from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Exelixis from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Exelixis from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $526,511.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at $862,799.14. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Exelixis Stock Up 1.5%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.09. The firm has a market cap of $15.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.47.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $628.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.40 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.33% and a return on equity of 42.17%. The business's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Exelixis Company Profile

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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