Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Makes New $1.84 Million Investment in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Key Points

• Mizuho Markets Americas LLC took a new position in Exelixis, Inc., purchasing 49,807 shares valued at approximately $1.84 million during the 1st quarter.
• Exelixis reported a net revenue of $568.26 million for the last quarter, which was below analysts' expectations, and posted $0.75 earnings per share, exceeding estimates.
• Research firms have varying recommendations on Exelixis, with the stock currently rated a "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.44.

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 49,807 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,839,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Exelixis by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 9,679 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 1,637.9% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 746,286 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $24,851,000 after purchasing an additional 703,343 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 200,228 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,668,000 after purchasing an additional 29,892 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,947,599 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $98,155,000 after purchasing an additional 485,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 163.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 73,884 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,413,000 after buying an additional 45,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stephens raised shares of Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $29.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stelios Papadopoulos sold 36,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.35, for a total transaction of $1,619,129.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,279,416 shares in the company, valued at $56,742,099.60. This represents a 2.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Amy C. Peterson sold 72,776 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.47, for a total transaction of $3,309,124.72. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 465,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,161,419.71. This represents a 13.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 446,605 shares of company stock worth $20,539,205. 2.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exelixis Price Performance

Exelixis stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,536,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,081,274. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.03. The company has a market cap of $10.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.29. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.12 and a 1-year high of $49.62.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The biotechnology company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $568.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $574.36 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 27.47%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Exelixis Profile

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.