Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Short Interest Down 17.7% in February

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) saw a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 13,290,000 shares, a decline of 17.7% from the February 13th total of 16,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.4 days. Currently, 4.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EXEL. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Brookline Capital Management began coverage on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.59.

Exelixis Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Exelixis stock traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $37.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,410,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,070,945. Exelixis has a twelve month low of $20.14 and a twelve month high of $40.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $35.48 and its 200 day moving average is $32.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Exelixis will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $1,059,407.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 779,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,174,996.98. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total transaction of $388,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 341,028 shares in the company, valued at $13,231,886.40. This represents a 2.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in Exelixis by 616.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Exelixis by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

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.