PSP Research LLC Buys Shares of 11,948 Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

PSP Research LLC bought a new stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 11,948 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $524,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $805,412,000 after acquiring an additional 3,466,000 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Exelixis by 1,230.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,195,971 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $131,994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955,813 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Exelixis by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,181,359 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $379,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575,280 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Exelixis by 153.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,462,948 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $101,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in Exelixis by 100.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,655,069 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $109,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,087 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other news, SVP Brenda Hefti sold 6,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.21, for a total transaction of $332,641.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 106,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,520.02. This trade represents a 5.84% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 34,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $1,745,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 952,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,615,850. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 207,663 shares of company stock valued at $9,600,320. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $48.67 on Wednesday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.76 and a 52-week high of $51.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.64. The company has a market capitalization of $12.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.38.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.12. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.08% and a return on equity of 39.89%. The company had revenue of $610.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Exelixis’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EXEL. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.35.

Exelixis Company Profile

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis’s translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company’s most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.