Wall Street Zen Upgrades Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) to “Strong-Buy”

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on EXEL. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, October 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Exelixis from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of EXEL stock opened at $64.53 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.19 and its 200-day moving average is $53.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.47. Exelixis has a 52 week low of $36.00 and a 52 week high of $65.50.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.06. Exelixis had a return on equity of 42.17% and a net margin of 35.33%. The company had revenue of $628.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.40 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total value of $526,511.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,799.14. This represents a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Exelixis by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 757 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Exelixis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Exelixis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Company Profile

Exelixis, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing medicines for cancer and other serious diseases. The company’s research programs center primarily on targeted therapies, including treatments designed to inhibit signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and progression.

Exelixis’ lead product is CABOMETYX (cabozantinib), an oral medicine approved in the United States for certain patients with renal cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and differentiated thyroid cancer.