Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Receives “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective points to a potential upside of 14.29% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on EXEL. Citigroup increased their target price on Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Brookline Capital Management assumed coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Exelixis from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelixis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.24.

Exelixis Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of EXEL opened at $35.00 on Thursday. Exelixis has a 12-month low of $20.14 and a 12-month high of $37.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.83.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its 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%. Analysts anticipate that Exelixis will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 486,059 shares in the company, valued at $17,823,783.53. This trade represents a 10.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total value of $352,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 278,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,828,514.55. This represents a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 111,588 shares of company stock worth $3,981,864. 2.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 58,159 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 62.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.