Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Bank of America lowered Exelixis from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Exelixis in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exelixis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.94.

Exelixis Trading Up 2.3%

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $41.69 on Monday. Exelixis has a 1-year low of $32.38 and a 1-year high of $49.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.77 and a 200-day moving average of $41.52. The firm has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.41.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.20. Exelixis had a return on equity of 36.29% and a net margin of 33.73%.The business had revenue of $598.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $609.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. Exelixis’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 47,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $2,132,351.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 616,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,416,717. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 34,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $1,473,954.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,042,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,830,897. The trade was a 3.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 362,849 shares of company stock worth $15,917,463 over the last 90 days. 2.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 95.1% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 599 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Exelixis by 500.0% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Exelixis in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

About Exelixis

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.