Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) had its price target raised by equities researchers at UBS Group from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 3.69% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on EXEL. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Brookline Capital Management started coverage on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.06.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $32.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.89. Exelixis has a one year low of $20.01 and a one year high of $37.59. The company has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Exelixis will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 41,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total transaction of $1,428,963.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 288,665 shares in the company, valued at $9,918,529.40. The trade was a 12.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total transaction of $1,706,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 530,325 shares in the company, valued at $18,099,992.25. This represents a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 289,736 shares of company stock worth $10,139,360. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXEL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake 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 worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Exelixis by 5.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Exelixis by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Exelixis by 0.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 71,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Exelixis by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

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.