Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension Acquires Shares of 555,504 Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Key Points

• Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension initiated a new position in Exelixis, buying 555,504 shares worth about $24.35 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other investors holding 85.27% of Exelixis shares; several firms, including Farallon and AQR, also increased their stakes recently.
• Exelixis reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting EPS of $0.87 versus the $0.75 estimate and revenue of $610.81 million, while analysts’ consensus rating remains Hold with a $47.35 target price.

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 555,504 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $24,348,000. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension owned 0.21% of Exelixis at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 21.6% during the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $805,412,000 after buying an additional 3,466,000 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 20.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,181,359 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $379,190,000 after buying an additional 1,575,280 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 7.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,960,525 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $246,170,000 after buying an additional 394,897 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 11.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,180,912 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $172,658,000 after buying an additional 419,596 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,722,334 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $163,150,000 after buying an additional 1,067,265 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exelixis currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In related news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 99,574 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $4,382,251.74. Following the sale, the director owned 279,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,320,247.42. The trade was a 26.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director George Poste sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.71, for a total transaction of $2,742,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 118,832 shares in the company, valued at $5,431,810.72. The trade was a 33.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 382,811 shares of company stock valued at $17,014,813 over the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Exelixis Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $51.10 on Friday. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $33.76 and a one year high of $51.63. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $44.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.38.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.12. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.08% and a return on equity of 39.89%. The business had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Exelixis's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelixis Company Profile

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis's translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company's most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.

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