Marietta Investment Partners LLC Buys 17,400 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Key Points

• Marietta Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Exelixis, Inc. by 32.0% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 17,400 shares to bring its total holdings to 71,694 shares valued at approximately $2.65 million.
• Insider trading activity included sales by two executives, with EVP Patrick J. Haley selling 126,383 shares valued at over $6 million, and EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel selling 25,000 shares for about $1.15 million.
• Exelixis currently has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, with recent analyst ratings indicating an average price target of $45.33 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Marietta Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 32.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,694 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 17,400 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Exelixis were worth $2,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,092 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 5,344 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 107,212 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,570,000 after purchasing an additional 22,370 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Exelixis by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,429,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $979,994,000 after purchasing an additional 121,750 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Exelixis by 479.0% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 113,965 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,926,000 after buying an additional 94,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EXEL shares. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stephens raised Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Exelixis from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.44.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of Exelixis stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.00. 2,153,938 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,039,417. Exelixis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.13 and a twelve month high of $49.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.90. The stock has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.28.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Exelixis had a return on equity of 26.90% and a net margin of 27.01%. The business had revenue of $568.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $574.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 693,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,021,027.28. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 126,383 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.96, for a total value of $6,061,328.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 446,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,412,173.64. This trade represents a 22.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 458,113 shares of company stock valued at $21,024,817. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company's stock.

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.