D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Grows Stock Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,621,552 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 320,766 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.57% of Exelixis worth $53,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 616.9% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 62.8% during 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 period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Up 20.8%

Shares of Exelixis stock traded up $7.70 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,913,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,221,589. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.14 and a 12-month high of $45.15. The company has a market capitalization of $12.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.50.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. Research analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total value 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 represents a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 341,028 shares in the company, valued at $13,231,886.40. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 141,851 shares of company stock worth $5,236,046. 2.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EXEL. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Exelixis from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exelixis has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.12.

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.