Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Shares Up 5.5% – Here’s Why

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) shares shot up 5.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $37.05 and last traded at $37.02. 2,073,819 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 2,581,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on EXEL. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Exelixis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.24.

Exelixis Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.14.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. Research analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,561.28. The trade was a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total value of $2,200,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 486,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,823,783.53. The trade was a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Exelixis by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Exelixis by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Exelixis by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Exelixis by 5.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.