Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Takes $240,000 Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,199 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EXEL. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,562,790 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,884,000 after purchasing an additional 704,786 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in Exelixis during the third quarter worth $14,979,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth $17,046,000. Burney Co. bought a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth $12,267,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Exelixis by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156,996 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $71,828,000 after acquiring an additional 366,141 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXEL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Brookline Capital Management initiated coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.24.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of EXEL stock opened at $36.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.18 and a 200-day moving average of $32.29. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $20.14 and a one year high of $40.02.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $694,600.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,396.50. This represents a 35.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $1,059,407.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 779,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,174,996.98. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234. 2.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.