KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Decreases Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS has reduced its stake in Exelixis, Inc. by 8.4%, selling 9,600 shares and retaining a total of 104,600 shares worth approximately $3.86 million.
• Recent analyst evaluations for Exelixis include price target increases from Barclays, Bank of America, and Citigroup, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $45.33.
• Exelixis' stock price increased by 1.8%, trading at $45.60, with a market capitalization of $12.44 billion.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lowered its position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,600 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 9,600 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Exelixis were worth $3,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Exelixis by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,429,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $979,994,000 after acquiring an additional 121,750 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,169,847 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $272,056,000 after acquiring an additional 67,470 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,630,940 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $254,110,000 after acquiring an additional 708,312 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 308.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,975,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $132,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,001,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,967,005 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $132,101,000 after acquiring an additional 810,857 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelixis Stock Down 16.1%

EXEL traded down $7.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.24. 6,569,008 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,975,396. The business's 50 day moving average is $43.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.91. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.00 and a fifty-two week high of $49.62. The stock has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.28.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.50.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 34,387 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total value of $1,515,091.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 412,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,155,892.32. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 7,535 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $324,683.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 358,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,464,225.38. This represents a 2.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 458,113 shares of company stock valued at $21,024,817. Corporate insiders own 2.82% of the company's stock.

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.