Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Short Interest Update

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 13,290,000 shares, a decrease of 17.7% from the February 13th total of 16,150,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days. Currently, 4.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $1,059,407.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 779,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,174,996.98. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. This trade represents a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234 in the last ninety days. 2.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 308.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,975,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $132,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,001,204 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,867,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in Exelixis by 330.4% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,484,395 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $82,730,000 after buying an additional 1,907,167 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,159,395 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $105,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth $30,321,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ EXEL traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $36.36. 1,934,008 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,071,092. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.60. Exelixis has a 52 week low of $20.14 and a 52 week high of $40.02. The stock has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelixis will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their price target on Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.59.

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.