Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 958.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,942 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $99,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth $1,493,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 58,928 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,962,000 after buying an additional 4,049 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth $706,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth $561,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 58,159 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,937,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total value of $388,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 341,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,231,886.40. This represents a 2.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. This trade represents a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $38.58 on Friday. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a fifty-two week high of $39.30. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.08. The company has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on EXEL. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.24.

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.