Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $65.58 and last traded at $65.2550, with a volume of 152,200 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EXEL. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group set a $55.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Exelixis Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $58.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.68. The stock has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.47.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.33% and a return on equity of 42.17%. The company had revenue of $628.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. Exelixis’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total transaction of $526,511.92. Following the sale, the director owned 16,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,799.14. This trade represents a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 78.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 9,010 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 3,967 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,511 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 254.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 56,605 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,306,000 after purchasing an additional 40,650 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 84,097 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,912,000 after purchasing an additional 4,565 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing medicines for cancer and other serious diseases. The company’s research programs center primarily on targeted therapies, including treatments designed to inhibit signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and progression.

Exelixis’ lead product is CABOMETYX (cabozantinib), an oral medicine approved in the United States for certain patients with renal cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and differentiated thyroid cancer.