Short Interest in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Expands By 5.5%

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,690,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the August 31st total of 12,030,000 shares. Approximately 4.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.38, for a total transaction of $659,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 605,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,473.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.38, for a total value of $659,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 605,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,968,473.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 125,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total value of $3,398,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 721,680 shares in the company, valued at $19,622,479.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 327,858 shares of company stock worth $8,640,129 in the last quarter. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exelixis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 232.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Exelixis in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Exelixis by 107.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in Exelixis by 537.2% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,746 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXEL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.67.

Exelixis Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Exelixis stock opened at $26.30 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.53. The company has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.09, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.54. Exelixis has a 12-month low of $18.64 and a 12-month high of $27.83.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $637.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.21 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 15.54%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Exelixis will post 1.59 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.