Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL) shares bounced off a new 52-week high of $14.28 today. A number of other brokerage analysts have commented on the stock recently, and the company has earned a consensus one-year price target of $12.67, lower than the opening price of $13.80.
Shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL) opened at $13.80 and traded in a range between, $13.70 and $14.28 yesterday, and last traded at $14.08, which represents a change of $ 0.44 over the previous closing price. Most stocks that hit a new 52-week high go higher.
The easiest, and best way to assemble a list of potential high performers is to refer to the new 52-week highs list.
Look for heavy-volume accumulation by institutional investors, particularly at buy points.
Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL) now has a market cap of $3.24B
The average daily volume for Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL) is 5,906,540 shares out of a total float 212,111,000 and some 4,023,472 shares traded hands on yesterday, 19 percent lower than normal. Look for trading volume to pick up in the coming days as momentum traders often use increases in trading volume to identify heavy volume accumulation or distribution by institutional investors.
As with all breakouts, investors look for volume to be at least 40%-50% higher than normal on the breakout to show that fund managers and other professional investors are jumping in. If the share price rises sharply and the trading volume spikes well above average, that indicates demand.
A moving average can also act as support or resistance. In an uptrend a 50-day, 100-day or 200-day moving average may act as a support level, as shown in the figure below. This is because the average acts like a floor (support), so the price bounces up off of it. In a downtrend a moving average may act as resistance; like a ceiling, the price hits it and then starts to drop again.
With that in mind Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL) now has a 50-day MA is $11.31 and 200-day MA is $7.30, and it has traded in a 52-week range between $3.55 – 14.28 and Friday’s last price was -0.01 off the 52 week high.
Earnings growth is an important factor to look at when buying stocks and investors look for companies that have grown their earnings at least 25% or more for the past 3 years.
Studies shows 3 out of 4 stocks follow the market’s trend, so you always want to trade in sync with the market direction.
The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.23% was up 2 points, or 0.1%, at 2,140 two hours ahead of the close
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.24% rose 26 points, or 0.1%, to 18,146, with nearly two-thirds of the 30 blue-chip companies trading higher.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.24% advanced 3 points, or 0.1%, to 5,238, boosted by a rally in biotech stocks.
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