Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock Price

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) had its target price raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

EXEL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Brookline Capital Management began coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.59.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of EXEL opened at $36.80 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $35.25 and a 200-day moving average of $32.33. The company has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. Exelixis has a 1 year low of $20.14 and a 1 year high of $40.02.

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 return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $1,946,479.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 303,310 shares in the company, valued at $11,216,403.80. This represents a 14.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total transaction of $331,430.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 356,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,479,669. This trade represents a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234. 2.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 765 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Exelixis by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.