Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 31.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 665,742 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 306,948 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $17,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EXEL. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exelixis in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Exelixis by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,010 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $34.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.88. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.20 and a 52-week high of $36.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $539.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.31 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. The business’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,162 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.40, for a total transaction of $36,486.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 498,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,666,873. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total value of $709,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 580,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,475,426.75. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 314,736 shares of company stock valued at $10,849,110. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EXEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America downgraded Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Exelixis from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.44.

Exelixis Company 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.