Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Short Interest Down 8.6% in October

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) was the target of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,120,000 shares, a drop of 8.6% from the October 15th total of 9,980,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $34.52. 1,803,089 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,080,853. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.51. Exelixis has a 52 week low of $19.20 and a 52 week high of $36.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.26.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $539.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.31 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. Exelixis’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Exelixis will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXEL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group started coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Exelixis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelixis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.38, for a total transaction of $659,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 605,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,473.50. This trade represents a 3.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director George Poste sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.00, for a total value of $1,020,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 169,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,746,680. This represents a 15.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 248,148 shares of company stock worth $8,042,547. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 1.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 27,102,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $608,993,000 after buying an additional 424,000 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Exelixis by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 15,163,066 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $340,714,000 after purchasing an additional 61,350 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Exelixis by 107.7% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,763,728 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $129,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,021 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 7.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,137,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $115,434,000 after purchasing an additional 349,837 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 12.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,281,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $73,425,000 after purchasing an additional 370,199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

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.