Quest Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Quest Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 27.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 11,483 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 45.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 90,211 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,031,000 after acquiring an additional 28,126 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 1.6% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 27,102,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $608,993,000 after purchasing an additional 424,000 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 469,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,195,000 after acquiring an additional 34,875 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,790,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,473,000 after purchasing an additional 991,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 60.3% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 54,863 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 20,641 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $34.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.51. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $19.20 and a one year high of $36.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.48.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. Exelixis had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. The firm had revenue of $539.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 96,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $3,394,510.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 498,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,463,075. This represents a 16.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 41,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total transaction of $1,428,963.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 288,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,918,529.40. This trade represents a 12.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 289,736 shares of company stock valued at $9,471,510. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, October 11th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on Exelixis from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.44.

Exelixis Profile

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.