Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $36.69 and last traded at $36.69, with a volume of 1061601 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EXEL. Stephens upped their price target on Exelixis from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.44.

Exelixis Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.51.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.31 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. The company’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 96,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $3,394,510.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 498,945 shares in the company, valued at $17,463,075. The trade was a 16.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 41,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total value of $1,428,963.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 288,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,918,529.40. The trade was a 12.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 279,736 shares of company stock valued at $9,308,410 over the last ninety days. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 424,000 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Exelixis by 0.4% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 15,163,066 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $340,714,000 after acquiring an additional 61,350 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Exelixis by 107.7% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,763,728 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,511,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,021 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in 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 lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 12.7% in 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 last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.