Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 234,127 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 10,360 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Exelixis worth $5,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Exelixis by 232.6% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Exelixis by 44.2% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 17.1% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,577 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EXEL shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Exelixis from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Six 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.33.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $21.90 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.23. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.52 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The company has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.16). Exelixis had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The company had revenue of $425.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $461.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Edward Johnson purchased 190,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.70 per share, with a total value of $3,933,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,100,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,785,111. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total transaction of $1,008,579.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,255,375.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Edward Johnson purchased 190,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.70 per share, for a total transaction of $3,933,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,100,730 shares in the company, valued at $22,785,111. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

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.