Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on EXEL. Guggenheim lowered Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Exelixis from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.45.

Exelixis Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of EXEL opened at $44.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Exelixis has a fifty-two week low of $31.90 and a fifty-two week high of $49.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.89.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.10. Exelixis had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 31.06%. The business had revenue of $597.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other news, Director Stelios Papadopoulos sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total value of $4,355,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,189,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,790,879.40. This represents a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 34,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.88, for a total value of $1,431,751.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 245,235 shares of company stock valued at $10,490,600. Insiders own 2.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 74.5% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 187,097 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,908,000 after purchasing an additional 79,885 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Exelixis by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Exelixis by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 1st quarter worth $309,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,321,407 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $122,626,000 after acquiring an additional 69,054 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.