Short Interest in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Grows By 26.2%

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,620,000 shares, a growth of 26.2% from the March 31st total of 6,830,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other Exelixis news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $461,112.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,703 shares in the company, valued at $857,229.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Exelixis news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $461,112.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $857,229.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total value of $1,008,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 384,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,255,375.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at $73,449,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Exelixis by 948.3% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,454,277 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,240,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220,150 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 1,043.9% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,957,848 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786,687 shares during the period. abrdn plc purchased a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,997,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Exelixis by 42.3% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,771,128 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,699,000 after acquiring an additional 526,814 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on EXEL shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet raised Exelixis from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Exelixis from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays downgraded Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.29.

Exelixis Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Exelixis stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.46. 2,267,937 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,246,257. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.54. Exelixis has a twelve month low of $18.21 and a twelve month high of $24.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.21.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $479.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.23 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 8.57%. Equities research analysts forecast that Exelixis will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.