Principal Securities Inc. Buys 373 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 62.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 118.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 239,661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,219,000 after purchasing an additional 129,805 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Exelixis by 18.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,317 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Exelixis by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 143,547 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,725,000 after purchasing an additional 6,355 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Exelixis during the third quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 439,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,398,000 after purchasing an additional 20,008 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $38.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.62. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a fifty-two week high of $38.72.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Exelixis news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total value of $331,430.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 356,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,479,669. The trade was a 2.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. This represents a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 130,343 shares of company stock worth $4,789,234 over the last quarter. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on EXEL. Morgan Stanley upgraded Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays raised their target price on Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.24.

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.