Bank of Nova Scotia Invests $309,000 in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Key Points

• The Bank of Nova Scotia purchased 8,367 shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL), valued at approximately $309,000, during the first quarter, indicating increasing institutional interest in the biotechnology company.
• Several hedge funds have also significantly changed their positions in Exelixis recently, with 85.27% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on Exelixis, with an average price target of $44.44 and a majority rating of "Moderate Buy" based on current stock performance and future outlook.

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,367 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Exelixis by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 107,212 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,570,000 after purchasing an additional 22,370 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Exelixis by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 9,679 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Exelixis by 1,637.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 746,286 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $24,851,000 after purchasing an additional 703,343 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Exelixis by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 200,228 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,668,000 after purchasing an additional 29,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Exelixis by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,947,599 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $98,155,000 after purchasing an additional 485,527 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 7,535 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $324,683.15. Following the sale, the director owned 358,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,464,225.38. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sue Gail Eckhardt sold 18,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.74, for a total transaction of $805,136.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $913,781.20. This trade represents a 46.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 456,605 shares of company stock worth $20,966,005. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Exelixis Price Performance

Exelixis stock traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $37.95. The stock had a trading volume of 4,283,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,091,568. The stock has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.29. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.12 and a 52 week high of $49.62. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.04.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $568.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.36 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 27.47%. The company's revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. Research analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on EXEL shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Stephens upgraded shares of Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Benchmark restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $29.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.06.

Exelixis 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.