Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Stephens upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Stephens now has a $60.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $29.00. Exelixis traded as high as $49.62 and last traded at $43.37, with a volume of 9358364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.37.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on EXEL. JMP Securities increased their target price on Exelixis from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Exelixis from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Exelixis from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.82.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total value of $58,812.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 693,181 shares in the company, valued at $27,034,059. This represents a 0.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director George Poste sold 20,634 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.99, for a total value of $948,957.66. Following the transaction, the director now owns 169,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,773,229.80. The trade was a 10.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 458,113 shares of company stock valued at $21,024,817 over the last ninety days. 2.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Exelixis by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,429,252 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $979,994,000 after buying an additional 121,750 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,169,847 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $272,056,000 after purchasing an additional 67,470 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 2.2% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,795,074 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $287,794,000 after acquiring an additional 164,134 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Exelixis by 73.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,893,889 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $250,869,000 after buying an additional 2,926,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Exelixis by 40.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,572,189 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $205,725,000 after buying an additional 1,596,948 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Down 4.8%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.78 and a 200 day moving average of $37.21. The company has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.28.

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.