Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,428,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,460,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.91% of Exelixis as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EXEL. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $805,412,000 after acquiring an additional 3,466,000 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 1,230.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,195,971 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $131,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,955,813 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,181,359 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $379,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575,280 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 100.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,655,069 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $109,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 1,821.0% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,188,105 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126,256 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $52.70 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.96 and its 200 day moving average is $44.53. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.76 and a fifty-two week high of $52.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.25 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.41.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.12. Exelixis had a return on equity of 39.89% and a net margin of 35.08%.The company had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Exelixis’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 34,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $1,745,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 952,317 shares in the company, valued at $47,615,850. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,187,757.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 594,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,945,209.35. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 219,170 shares of company stock worth $10,620,641 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays increased their target price on Exelixis from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Exelixis from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelixis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.35.

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.