Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Takes $600,000 Position in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EXEL. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $53.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.35. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.76 and a fifty-two week high of $57.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.06. Exelixis had a return on equity of 42.17% and a net margin of 35.33%.The business had revenue of $628.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sue Gail Eckhardt sold 9,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total value of $491,973.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,201.06. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 67,000 shares of company stock worth $3,404,652 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Exelixis from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research cut Exelixis from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.07.

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.