JLB & Associates Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

JLB & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 48,849 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,658,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the second quarter worth $1,581,991,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,658,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $598,647,000 after purchasing an additional 4,477,029 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at $106,460,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Exelixis in the second quarter valued at $107,803,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Exelixis by 100.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,655,069 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $109,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,087 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelixis Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of EXEL opened at $53.12 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.35. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.76 and a 12 month high of $57.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.44.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $628.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.40 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 42.17% and a net margin of 35.33%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 3,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.55, for a total transaction of $198,408.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 284,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,375,611.20. This trade represents a 1.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total value of $526,511.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,799.14. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,000 shares of company stock worth $3,404,652. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXEL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Exelixis from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.07.

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.