Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) was downgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $36.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 2.31% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.24.

Exelixis Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of EXEL stock opened at $36.85 on Monday. Exelixis has a twelve month low of $20.14 and a twelve month high of $37.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.32.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that Exelixis will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total transaction of $2,200,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,823,783.53. This trade represents a 10.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. This trade represents a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Exelixis by 54.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,094 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2,141 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Exelixis by 118.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 239,661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,219,000 after acquiring an additional 129,805 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Exelixis by 12.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,138 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Exelixis by 18.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,317 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 12.5% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 11,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. 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.