Longbow Finance SA Invests $4.37 Million in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Key Points

• Longbow Finance SA acquired 118,351 shares of Exelixis, Inc. for around $4.37 million, marking a notable entry by the firm in the biotechnology sector.
• Institutional investors hold approximately 85.27% of Exelixis' shares, with several hedge funds increasing their stakes significantly in the past quarter.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Exelixis, with current ratings including one sell, eight holds, and thirteen buys, reflecting a broad range of market confidence.

Longbow Finance SA purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 118,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,370,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Exelixis by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,429,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $979,994,000 after buying an additional 121,750 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,169,847 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $272,056,000 after buying an additional 67,470 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,630,940 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $254,110,000 after buying an additional 708,312 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 308.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,975,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $132,376,000 after buying an additional 3,001,204 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,967,005 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $132,101,000 after buying an additional 810,857 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction of $1,154,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 693,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,021,027.28. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Amy C. Peterson sold 72,776 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.47, for a total transaction of $3,309,124.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 465,393 shares in the company, valued at $21,161,419.71. This represents a 13.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 458,113 shares of company stock worth $21,024,817 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.82% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Price Performance

EXEL stock traded down $7.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.23. The stock had a trading volume of 8,846,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,993,830. The firm has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.28. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.00 and a 12-month high of $49.62. The company's 50-day moving average price is $43.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.91.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The biotechnology company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $568.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.36 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 27.99% and a return on equity of 28.81%. Exelixis's revenue for the quarter was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.11.

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.