Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Hits New 52-Week High at $27.71

Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $27.71 and last traded at $27.61, with a volume of 115970 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $27.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EXEL. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 13th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.50.

Exelixis Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.91, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $637.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.21 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 15.54%. Equities research analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 95,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $2,375,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 520,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,024,750. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 95,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $2,375,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 520,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,024,750. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 125,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total transaction of $3,398,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 721,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,622,479.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 302,858 shares of company stock valued at $7,980,629 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Exelixis by 1,651.4% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,774,707 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,844,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,278 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 948.3% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,454,277 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,240,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,150 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $828,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Exelixis by 155.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,039 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 60,925 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Exelixis in the first quarter worth $1,281,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.