Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Increases Stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Exelixis, Inc. by 64.2% in Q1, owning 21,674 shares worth approximately $799,000.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Exelixis, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.44.
• Insiders sold a combined total of 456,605 shares of Exelixis stock valued at nearly $21 million in the last ninety days.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 64.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,674 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,472 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Exelixis were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 32.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,457 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,046,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1,637.9% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 746,286 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $24,851,000 after acquiring an additional 703,343 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 10.6% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 23.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 248,073 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $9,159,000 after acquiring an additional 47,845 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXEL traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.26. The company had a trading volume of 5,660,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,398,983. The firm has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.29. The business's 50 day moving average price is $42.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.90. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.21 and a 1-year high of $49.62.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The biotechnology company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $568.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.36 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 27.47% and a net margin of 27.01%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Tuesday. Benchmark reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens upgraded Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $29.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other news, Director Stelios Papadopoulos sold 36,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.35, for a total transaction of $1,619,129.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,279,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,742,099.60. This represents a 2.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total value of $1,154,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 693,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,021,027.28. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 456,605 shares of company stock worth $20,966,005. 2.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.