Royal Bank Of Canada Reaffirms "Sector Perform" Rating for Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating for Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) with a target price of $45.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.67% from its previous close.
• There is strong support for Exelixis among analysts, with fourteen providing a "Buy" rating and an average target price of $44.53, while various institutions have significantly increased their shareholding in the company.
• Exelixis reported earnings of $0.75 per share in its latest quarter, exceeding forecasts, though its revenue of $568.26 million fell short of analyst expectations by nearly $6 million.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating reissued by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective suggests a potential upside of 27.67% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on EXEL. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Exelixis from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Exelixis from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.53.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.25. The stock had a trading volume of 1,064,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,947,239. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.04. The firm has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.38. Exelixis has a 1 year low of $27.86 and a 1 year high of $49.62.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The biotechnology company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.12. Exelixis had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 27.47%. The company had revenue of $568.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $574.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. Exelixis's revenue was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Exelixis has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Exelixis in the 1st quarter valued at $123,310,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 73.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,893,889 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $250,869,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,884 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Exelixis in the 2nd quarter worth $122,099,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 120.5% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 3,047,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $134,306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,665,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 40.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,572,189 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $205,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,948 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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