China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 27,809 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 340.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its position in Exelixis by 7,995.2% during the third quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Exelixis by 245.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,676 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Exelixis by 44.2% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Exelixis by 87.2% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,552 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Edward Johnson bought 190,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.70 per share, for a total transaction of $3,933,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,100,730 shares in the company, valued at $22,785,111. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total value of $1,008,579.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,255,375.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Edward Johnson purchased 190,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.70 per share, with a total value of $3,933,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,100,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,785,111. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXEL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TheStreet raised shares of Exelixis from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on Exelixis from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Friday, December 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.29.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of Exelixis stock traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $23.30. 121,597 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,315,429. The company has a market capitalization of $7.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.54. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.08 and a 52 week high of $24.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.04.

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

Exelixis Company 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.