Blue Trust Inc. Increases Stock Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 134.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,302 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,208 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EXEL. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the second quarter valued at about $801,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 242.8% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 89,449 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 63,352 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 71,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis in the second quarter worth $652,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 28.1% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 78,466 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after buying an additional 17,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $33.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.08. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.01 and a 52-week high of $37.59.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on EXEL. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Exelixis from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Exelixis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Brookline Capital Management started coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exelixis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.06.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 96,986 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 498,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,463,075. This represents a 16.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 41,588 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 288,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,918,529.40. This trade represents a 12.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,574 shares of company stock valued at $7,376,374 over the last quarter. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.