Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) saw a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,120,000 shares, a drop of 8.6% from the October 15th total of 9,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.38, for a total value of $659,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 605,325 shares in the company, valued at $15,968,473.50. This trade represents a 3.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.40, for a total value of $36,486.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 498,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,666,873. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 248,148 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,547 over the last quarter. 2.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the second quarter worth $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Exelixis by 107.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in Exelixis by 537.2% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.95. 449,301 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,073,569. The firm has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.51. Exelixis has a 1 year low of $19.20 and a 1 year high of $36.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.26.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. Exelixis had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. The business had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group started coverage on Exelixis in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Exelixis from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.44.

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.