Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Sells 20,941 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lowered its holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 42.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,945 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 20,941 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's holdings in Exelixis were worth $931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% during the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,508 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total transaction of $58,812.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 693,181 shares in the company, valued at $27,034,059. This trade represents a 0.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total value of $331,430.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 356,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,479,669. The trade was a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 141,851 shares of company stock worth $5,236,046 in the last ninety days. 2.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Exelixis Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL traded down $0.33 on Friday, reaching $36.17. 1,873,841 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,172,285. Exelixis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.14 and a twelve month high of $40.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.86 and a 200-day moving average of $35.37. The company has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.25.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EXEL shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Exelixis from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.59.

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.