Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Shares Down 3.9%

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) shares were down 3.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $22.63 and last traded at $22.76. Approximately 275,501 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 2,274,160 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on EXEL shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet raised Exelixis from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays downgraded Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.29.

Exelixis Trading Down 4.0 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.10. The company has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $479.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $481.23 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, Director David Edward Johnson purchased 190,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.70 per share, with a total value of $3,933,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,100,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,785,111. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $461,112.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $857,229.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Edward Johnson acquired 190,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.70 per share, with a total value of $3,933,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,100,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,785,111. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth about $50,953,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 948.3% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,454,277 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $58,240,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220,150 shares during the last quarter. Krensavage Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,457,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1,043.9% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,957,848 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 36,214,174 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $702,917,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,880 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.