23,865 Shares in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL Purchased by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 23,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,581,991,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 48.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,658,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $598,647,000 after acquiring an additional 4,477,029 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth $106,460,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the second quarter worth $107,803,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 100.1% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,655,069 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $109,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,087 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EXEL. Barclays upped their price objective on Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $55.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,187,757.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 594,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,945,209.35. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sue Gail Eckhardt sold 9,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $491,973.68. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at $806,201.06. This trade represents a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 67,000 shares of company stock worth $3,404,652 in the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exelixis Stock Performance

EXEL stock opened at $54.08 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.60. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.76 and a 1 year high of $57.57. The stock has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.44.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $628.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.40 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 42.17% and a net margin of 35.33%.Exelixis’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.