Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Stock Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in Exelixis by 16.8% in Q4 to 457,187 shares (about 0.17% ownership), worth roughly $20.0 million.
• Insiders sold a total of 362,849 shares (~$15.9 million) last quarter — including Director Jack Wyszomierski's sale of 99,574 shares — leaving insiders with 2.82% of the company.
• Analysts are mixed: Exelixis has a consensus Hold rating with an average target of $46.94, even as the company beat Q4 EPS estimates ($0.94 vs. $0.74) but slightly missed revenue expectations.

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 457,187 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 92,125 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.17% of Exelixis worth $20,039,000 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 EXEL. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 95.1% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 599 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 600 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 1,380.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 829 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Exelixis from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Exelixis from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group set a $41.00 price target on Exelixis in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised Exelixis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.94.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $44.38 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.41. The firm has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.42. Exelixis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.76 and a twelve month high of $49.62.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $598.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $609.17 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 36.29% and a net margin of 33.73%.Exelixis's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 99,574 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $4,382,251.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 279,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,320,247.42. The trade was a 26.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brenda Hefti sold 18,669 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total value of $821,622.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 96,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,247,493.12. This trade represents a 16.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 362,849 shares of company stock worth $15,917,463 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.82% of the company's stock.

About Exelixis

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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