Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EXEL. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet raised shares of Exelixis from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 384,866 shares in the company, valued at $8,255,375.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $461,112.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $857,229.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $641,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new stake in Exelixis in the first quarter valued at $250,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 10.3% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,641 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 6,490 shares during the period. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 319.6% in the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 4,327 shares during the period. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Exelixis in the 1st quarter valued at about $348,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of EXEL traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,560,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,843,234. The company has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.54. Exelixis has a fifty-two week low of $18.08 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.19.

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

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.