Exelixis’ (EXEL) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $29.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on EXEL. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.24.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $35.00 on Wednesday. Exelixis has a 1-year low of $20.14 and a 1-year high of $37.59. The company has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.83.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelixis will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total transaction of $352,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 278,665 shares in the company, valued at $9,828,514.55. The trade was a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total transaction of $2,200,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares in the company, valued at $17,823,783.53. This trade represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,588 shares of company stock worth $3,981,864 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Exelixis by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Exelixis by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Exelixis by 5.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Exelixis by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 58,159 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,937,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Exelixis

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.