Blue Trust Inc. Increases Stock Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 84.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,137 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Exelixis by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Exelixis by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Exelixis by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total value of $2,200,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,823,783.53. The trade was a 10.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total transaction of $352,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 278,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,828,514.55. The trade was a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on EXEL. Oppenheimer cut shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.24.

Exelixis Stock Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $34.20 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.08. The company has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.53. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.14 and a 52 week high of $37.59.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. Research analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS 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.