Short Interest in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Expands By 5.8%

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,360,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the November 15th total of 7,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 41,588 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total value of $1,428,963.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 288,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,918,529.40. This trade represents a 12.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.38, for a total transaction of $659,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 605,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,968,473.50. The trade was a 3.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 339,736 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,610. 2.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Exelixis by 5.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Exelixis by 3.6% in the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Exelixis by 1.1% in the second quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 50,497 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in Exelixis by 0.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 71,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Exelixis by 3.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,853 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of Exelixis stock opened at $35.03 on Monday. Exelixis has a 52-week low of $19.20 and a 52-week high of $36.97. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. Exelixis had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. The firm had revenue of $539.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EXEL shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Exelixis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exelixis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.47.

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.