Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Position Increased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly increased its stake in Exelixis, Inc. by 935.4% in Q1, owning approximately $25.03 million worth of the company after purchasing an additional 612,577 shares.
• Insider trading activities included CMO Amy C. Peterson selling 72,776 shares for over $3.3 million, reducing her ownership by 13.52%, while Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 7,535 shares valued at about $324,683.
• Exelixis, Inc. has seen various analyst ratings, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.33, indicating a mixed outlook from analysts on the stock.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 935.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 678,067 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 612,577 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.25% of Exelixis worth $25,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Westover Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,528,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 109,310.6% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 205,692 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $7,594,000 after purchasing an additional 205,504 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 365.2% during the 1st quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 145,058 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,779,000 after purchasing an additional 113,879 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 118,599 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $551,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on EXEL. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Exelixis from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America raised their target price on Exelixis from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. JMP Securities raised their target price on Exelixis from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Exelixis from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $29.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.33.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of EXEL traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.60. 3,571,221 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,575,789. The company has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.85. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $22.80 and a one year high of $49.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Tomas J. Heyman sold 4,544 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.29, for a total value of $201,253.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 32,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,438,096.30. This trade represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 34,387 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total value of $1,515,091.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 412,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,155,892.32. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 458,113 shares of company stock valued at $21,024,817 over the last quarter. 2.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Exelixis Company 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.