China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 340.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,975 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 27,809 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EXEL. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Exelixis by 245.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,676 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Exelixis by 7,995.2% in the 3rd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Exelixis by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 87.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,552 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Performance

EXEL traded down $0.19 on Friday, hitting $23.30. The company had a trading volume of 121,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,315,429. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.04. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.08 and a 12-month high of $24.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. Exelixis had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $479.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $481.23 million. Analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $461,112.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $857,229.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Exelixis news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $461,112.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $857,229.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Edward Johnson bought 190,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.70 per share, with a total value of $3,933,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,100,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,785,111. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Exelixis in a research report on Friday, December 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Exelixis from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Exelixis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.29.

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.