Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $56.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Exelixis traded as high as $45.29 and last traded at $44.04, with a volume of 3658908 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.95.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on EXEL. Oppenheimer lowered Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Exelixis from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total value of $694,600.75. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $1,059,407.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 779,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,174,996.98. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 129,641 shares of company stock worth $4,810,161. 2.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Exelixis by 73.8% during the 1st 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. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Exelixis by 8.6% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,019 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 49.8% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,764 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $730,000 after acquiring an additional 6,570 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Exelixis during the 1st quarter worth about $709,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Exelixis by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 709,761 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,204,000 after purchasing an additional 256,619 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelixis Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.68.

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

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.