Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Cut to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $36.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.24.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $37.53 on Monday. Exelixis has a 12 month low of $20.14 and a 12 month high of $37.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $34.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.50. The stock has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total transaction of $2,200,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,823,783.53. This trade represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $694,600.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,396.50. This represents a 35.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,807 shares of company stock worth $6,326,573. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Seizert Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 8.0% during the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 469,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,195,000 after purchasing an additional 34,875 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 124.0% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,790,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,473,000 after purchasing an additional 991,494 shares in the last quarter. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Exelixis in the third quarter valued at about $4,396,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Exelixis by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 54,863 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 20,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the third quarter worth $577,000. 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.