Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock Holdings Boosted by Axa S.A.

Axa S.A. boosted its position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 578.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,130 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 75,989 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.'s holdings in Exelixis were worth $2,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 330.4% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,484,395 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $82,730,000 after buying an additional 1,907,167 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Exelixis by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 87,681 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,920,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,967,005 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $132,101,000 after purchasing an additional 810,857 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,478,460 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $82,533,000 after purchasing an additional 506,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at $12,055,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Exelixis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.59.

Exelixis Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $36.81 on Thursday. Exelixis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.14 and a twelve month high of $40.26. The stock has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.25. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $36.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.22.

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 (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total transaction of $1,946,479.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares in the company, valued at $11,216,403.80. This trade represents a 14.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $425,884.80. Following the sale, 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. Insiders sold 141,851 shares of company stock valued at $5,236,046 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company's stock.

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.

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