First Trust Advisors LP Sells 433,151 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,436,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 433,151 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $59,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Exelixis by 95.1% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 599 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Luminist Capital LLC raised its stake in Exelixis by 2,740.0% in the second quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 710 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Exelixis in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Exelixis from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Exelixis from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.94.

Exelixis Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $41.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.45 and its 200-day moving average is $41.64. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.38 and a 1-year high of $49.62.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $598.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $609.17 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 36.29% and a net margin of 33.73%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 47,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $2,132,351.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 616,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,416,717. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bob Oliver sold 30,250 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.81, for a total transaction of $1,325,252.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $925,267.20. The trade was a 58.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 362,849 shares of company stock worth $15,917,463. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

About Exelixis

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.