Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 8,597 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 82.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,051 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,597 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Exelixis were worth $703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 6.1% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,372 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Exelixis by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Exelixis by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Exelixis by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 58,159 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,937,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Exelixis by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EXEL shares. Stephens raised shares of Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Exelixis from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $50.00 price target on Exelixis and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Exelixis from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.22.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other news, Director Tomas J. Heyman sold 4,544 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.29, for a total transaction of $201,253.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,470 shares in the company, valued at $1,438,096.30. This trade represents a 12.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,508 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total transaction of $58,812.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 693,181 shares in the company, valued at $27,034,059. The trade was a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 458,113 shares of company stock worth $21,024,817 in the last 90 days. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of Exelixis stock traded up $0.58 on Friday, hitting $43.67. 3,523,886 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,447,120. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.28. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.82 and a 1 year high of $49.62.

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.