Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $437,000 in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,128 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Exelixis by 12.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,281,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,425,000 after purchasing an additional 370,199 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Exelixis by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,462,072 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,891,000 after buying an additional 140,568 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exelixis by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,790,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,473,000 after buying an additional 991,494 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Exelixis by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,702,590 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,182,000 after acquiring an additional 98,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in Exelixis by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,168,391 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,320,000 after acquiring an additional 77,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total value of $709,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 580,325 shares in the company, valued at $16,475,426.75. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.40, for a total transaction of $36,486.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 498,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,666,873. This represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 314,736 shares of company stock valued at $10,849,110 over the last three months. 2.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EXEL shares. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $29.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America cut Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of Exelixis stock opened at $34.13 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.64. The firm has a market cap of $9.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.01 and a 1 year high of $37.59.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.31 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.