Navellier & Associates Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 41.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,179 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,109 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $1,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Performance

EXEL stock opened at $36.85 on Friday. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a fifty-two week high of $37.59. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.28. The company has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EXEL. StockNews.com raised Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer lowered Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Brookline Capital Management began coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total value of $2,200,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares in the company, valued at $17,823,783.53. This represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,561.28. The trade was a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Exelixis

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.