Wall Street Zen Downgrades Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Exelixis from "strong-buy" to "buy" amid mixed analyst activity—MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $46.94.
• Exelixis reported an EPS beat of $0.94 versus $0.74 expected but missed revenue forecasts at $598.66M (vs. $609.17M), with revenue up 5.6% year-over-year; the stock trades near $44.89 with a market cap of $11.4B and a PE of 16.21.
• Insiders sold roughly 362,849 shares (~$15.9M) in the last three months while institutional investors own about 85.27% of the company, signaling heavy institutional ownership amid recent insider reductions.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America cut Exelixis from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Exelixis from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Exelixis from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup cut Exelixis from a "market outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.94.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of Exelixis stock opened at $44.89 on Friday. Exelixis has a 52 week low of $33.76 and a 52 week high of $49.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.42.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.20. Exelixis had a return on equity of 36.29% and a net margin of 33.73%.The firm had revenue of $598.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $609.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 47,918 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $2,132,351.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 616,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,416,717. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Brenda Hefti sold 18,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total value of $821,622.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 96,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,247,493.12. This represents a 16.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 362,849 shares of company stock valued at $15,917,463 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.82% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Exelixis by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 21,158 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 5,076 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Exelixis by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 50,495 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 14,207 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in shares of Exelixis by 248.9% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 152,320 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,533,000 after buying an additional 108,662 shares during the last quarter. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $192,000. Finally, Wick Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $235,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Company Profile

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis's translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company's most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.

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