Exelixis’ (EXEL) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $40.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

EXEL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.76.

Exelixis Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of EXEL opened at $45.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.80. Exelixis has a 12-month low of $20.14 and a 12-month high of $48.85.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $1,946,479.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,216,403.80. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director George Poste sold 20,634 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.99, for a total value of $948,957.66. Following the sale, the director now owns 169,020 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,229.80. This represents a 10.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 520,942 shares of company stock worth $22,930,002 in the last ninety days. 2.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hemington Wealth Management grew its holdings in Exelixis by 211.3% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 769 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 616.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.