Legal & General Group Plc Sells 110,542 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Exelixis stake by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 110,542 shares and ending with 433,858 shares valued at about $19.0 million.
• Exelixis reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting $0.87 EPS versus the $0.75 estimate, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $610.81 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock’s average rating is “Hold” with a consensus price target of $47.35, even as some firms recently raised their ratings or targets.

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 433,858 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 110,542 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.16% of Exelixis worth $19,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $805,412,000 after acquiring an additional 3,466,000 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,181,359 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $379,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575,280 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,960,525 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $246,170,000 after acquiring an additional 394,897 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,180,912 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $172,658,000 after acquiring an additional 419,596 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,722,334 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $163,150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,265 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Price Performance

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $50.28 on Tuesday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.76 and a 1 year high of $52.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.41. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $46.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.29.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.12. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.08% and a return on equity of 39.89%. The business had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $607.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Truist Financial raised shares of Exelixis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,187,757.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 594,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,945,209.35. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Brenda Hefti sold 6,625 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.21, for a total transaction of $332,641.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 106,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,520.02. This trade represents a 5.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 205,433 shares of company stock worth $9,930,259. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Exelixis 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.

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