Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Decreases Position in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Exelixis stake by 8.4% in Q1, selling 442,633 shares and ending with 4.83 million shares valued at about $207.4 million.
• Exelixis insiders sold shares, including CFO Christopher J. Senner and Director Maria C. Freire; insiders sold 219,170 shares worth $10.6 million in the last quarter.
• Recent results and analyst sentiment were mixed but constructive: Exelixis beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $49.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,834,625 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 442,633 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 1.92% of Exelixis worth $207,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EXEL. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1,380.4% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 829 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 34,901 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $1,745,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 952,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,615,850. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria C. Freire sold 20,634 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $949,164.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 100,819 shares in the company, valued at $4,637,674. This trade represents a 16.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 219,170 shares of company stock valued at $10,620,641. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Exelixis from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $55.37 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $53.16 and its 200 day moving average is $47.19. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.76 and a 1 year high of $57.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.51 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 39.89% and a net margin of 35.08%.The company's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.