Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by Bank of America

Bank of America cut shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has $39.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $35.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens increased their price objective on Exelixis from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Exelixis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.88.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Exelixis stock opened at $34.69 on Tuesday. Exelixis has a fifty-two week low of $19.20 and a fifty-two week high of $36.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.38.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $539.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.31 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total value of $2,200,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 486,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,823,783.53. This trade represents a 10.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director George Poste sold 30,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.00, for a total value of $1,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 169,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,746,680. The trade was a 15.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 339,736 shares of company stock worth $11,508,610 in the last quarter. 2.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 107.7% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,763,728 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $129,511,000 after buying an additional 2,989,021 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Exelixis by 124.0% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,790,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,473,000 after acquiring an additional 991,494 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,979,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 27,102,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $608,993,000 after purchasing an additional 424,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exelixis by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,281,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,425,000 after purchasing an additional 370,199 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.