Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Stock Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,447 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,349 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $2,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Exelixis in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Exelixis by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $36.65 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.53. The stock has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a fifty-two week high of $40.02.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Brookline Capital Management initiated coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $1,059,407.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 779,607 shares in the company, valued at $28,174,996.98. This represents a 3.62 % 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, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,561.28. This represents a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

About Exelixis

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.