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

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 13,290,000 shares, a decrease of 17.7% from the February 13th total of 16,150,000 shares. Currently, 4.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.59.

Exelixis Trading Up 1.9 %

Exelixis stock opened at $37.06 on Thursday. Exelixis has a 1 year low of $20.14 and a 1 year high of $40.02. The company has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.71.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its 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 net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. Research analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,561.28. This trade represents a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234 in the last ninety days. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Exelixis by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 136,178 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,534,000 after purchasing an additional 19,372 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 29,113 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $755,000 after acquiring an additional 6,051 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,972,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,853 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.