Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL Position Reduced by Stephens Investment Management Group LLC

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC trimmed its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,511,156 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 131,246 shares during the period. Exelixis makes up about 1.3% of Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $103,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the second quarter valued at approximately $122,099,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in Exelixis by 120.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 3,047,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $134,306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665,110 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Exelixis by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,262,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $231,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580,567 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 776.8% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,468,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $64,740,000 after buying an additional 1,301,330 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 38.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,638,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $116,299,000 after buying an additional 728,956 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on EXEL. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Exelixis from $36.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group set a $41.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Bank of America lowered shares of Exelixis from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 34,187 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.88, for a total value of $1,431,751.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stelios Papadopoulos sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total value of $4,355,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,189,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,790,879.40. This represents a 7.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 245,235 shares of company stock valued at $10,490,600. 2.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Exelixis Stock Down 3.3%

NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $43.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.40. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.90 and a 52 week high of $49.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.53 and a 200 day moving average of $41.14.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.10. Exelixis had a return on equity of 31.06% and a net margin of 29.63%.The business had revenue of $597.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Exelixis Profile

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.