Milestone Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Key Points

• Milestone Asset Management cut its stake in Exelixis by 57.1% in Q4, selling 42,115 shares and leaving the firm with 31,677 shares valued at about $1.39 million.
• Company insiders have been sizable sellers recently: EVP Dana Aftab sold 47,918 shares (~$2.13M) and director Jack Wyszomierski sold 99,574 shares (~$4.38M), with insiders offloading 362,849 shares (~$15.9M) over the last 90 days and now owning 2.82% of the stock.
• Analysts have an average rating of Hold with a consensus price target of $47; shares traded near $46.85 as Exelixis reported Q4 EPS of $0.94 (beat) but revenue of $598.7M (slightly below expectations).

Milestone Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 57.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,677 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 42,115 shares during the quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC's holdings in Exelixis were worth $1,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. West Michigan Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at about $236,000. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,299 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,284,000 after buying an additional 4,669 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 427.6% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 38,284 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 31,028 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 530,120 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $23,246,000 after buying an additional 33,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 2,408 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 47,918 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $2,132,351.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 616,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,416,717. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 99,574 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total value of $4,382,251.74. Following the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 362,849 shares of company stock valued at $15,917,463 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on EXEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of 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 objective on Exelixis in a report on Monday, January 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Exelixis from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $46.85 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.55. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $33.76 and a one year high of $49.62. The company has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.42.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.20. Exelixis had a net margin of 33.73% and a return on equity of 36.29%. The firm had revenue of $598.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $609.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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