Royal Bank of Canada Raises Exelixis Price Target to $40.00

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) recently received a boost in its price target, which was raised from $38.00 to $40.00 by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage has assigned an "outperform" rating to the biotechnology company's stock, indicating confidence in its future performance. This updated price target suggests a potential upside of 8.51% from Exelixis’ previous closing price.

Research Analyst Updates

Other equity research analysts have also been active with their evaluations of Exelixis. For instance, on February 12th, Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target for Exelixis shares from $30.00 to $36.00 while maintaining a "hold" rating. Meanwhile, on February 24th, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Exelixis from an "overweight" to an "equal weight" rating while setting the price target at $36.00. Earlier, on December 17th, Bank of America lowered its rating from "buy" to "neutral" while increasing its target from $35.00 to $39.00. Citigroup has also upped its price target from $38.00 to $45.00, giving it a "buy" rating on February 12th. Additionally, Truist Financial raised its price objective from $42.00 to $43.00 and assigned a "buy" rating on January 27th. Currently, of the analysts covering Exelixis, one has issued a sell rating, eight have given hold ratings, and eleven have recommended buy ratings, with the average consensus rating classified as "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.59, as reported by MarketBeat.

Exelixis Market Performance

During midday trading on Thursday, shares of NASDAQ:EXEL experienced a slight decrease of 0.9%, falling by $0.34 to a value of $36.86. A total of 897,564 shares of Exelixis were traded in comparison to its average trading volume of 2,081,363. The company has maintained a fifty-day simple moving average of $35.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.33. Exelixis’ market capitalization stands at $10.32 billion, with a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of 20.83 and a price-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio of 1.13. The stock has fluctuated significantly over the past year, with a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a high of $40.02.

Insider Selling Activity

In other news pertaining to insider transactions, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of Exelixis stock on February 28th at an average price of $37.80, totaling approximately $331,430.40. As a result, he now owns 356,605 shares valued at approximately $13,479,669. Meanwhile, Executive Vice President Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares on March 3rd at an average price of $38.80, bringing the total value of his transaction to $388,000. Following this sale, he holds 341,028 shares worth about $13,231,886.40. In total, over the past three months, insiders sold 140,343 shares of the company's stock for a total value of $5,177,234, with 2.85% of the stock currently held by insiders.

Institutional Investment Trends

Hedge funds and institutional investors have shown significant interest in Exelixis recently. For instance, in the fourth quarter, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC made a new investment in Exelixis valued at $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake by a whopping 616.9%, now owning 889 shares worth $30,000 after increasing its holdings. Principal Securities Inc. also boosted its position by 62.8% during the fourth quarter, with an investment now valued at $32,000. Other new stakes were acquired by USA Financial Formulas and Kestra Investment Management LLC, further highlighting the growing interest in the company. Currently, institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of Exelixis shares.

Company Overview

Exelixis, Inc. is an oncology-focused biotechnology company that specializes in discovering, developing, and commercializing new medicines to treat challenging cancers within the United States. The firm is known for its medication CABOMETYX, which is designed for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who have undergone prior anti-angiogenic therapy, and for COMETRIQ, targeted at treating progressive and metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.

Exelixis, Stocks, RoyalBankCanada