Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on EXEL. UBS Group set a $41.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut Exelixis from a “market outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.94.

Exelixis Trading Up 0.6%

Exelixis stock opened at $41.54 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $43.57 and its 200-day moving average is $41.57. Exelixis has a 12 month low of $32.38 and a 12 month high of $49.62.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $598.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $609.17 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 36.29% and a net margin of 33.73%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Exelixis will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In related news, Director Bob Oliver sold 30,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.81, for a total transaction of $1,325,252.50. Following the sale, the director owned 21,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,267.20. This trade represents a 58.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 67,814 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $2,951,265.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 381,908 shares in the company, valued at $16,620,636.16. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 362,849 shares of company stock worth $15,917,463. Corporate insiders own 2.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EXEL. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $805,412,000 after buying an additional 3,466,000 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Exelixis by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,658,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $598,647,000 after acquiring an additional 4,477,029 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Exelixis by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,445,469 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $328,196,000 after acquiring an additional 28,289 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,054,743 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $265,379,000 after acquiring an additional 94,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 42.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,262,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $231,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580,567 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis’s translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company’s most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.