Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stake in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 433,858 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 110,542 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $19,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1,380.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 829 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,187,757.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 594,741 shares in the company, valued at $29,945,209.35. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George Poste sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.71, for a total transaction of $2,742,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 118,832 shares in the company, valued at $5,431,810.72. This represents a 33.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 205,433 shares of company stock valued at $9,930,259 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Performance

EXEL opened at $50.28 on Tuesday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.76 and a 52-week high of $52.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.29.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $607.51 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 39.89% and a net margin of 35.08%.The business’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXEL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.35.

About Exelixis

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.