Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 49,849 Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 49,849 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,840,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth $561,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $706,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 958.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 2,664 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of EXEL stock traded up $1.61 on Friday, hitting $45.91. The stock had a trading volume of 6,040,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,496,550. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.71. The company has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.28. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $21.86 and a one year high of $49.62.

Insider Activity

In other Exelixis news, CMO Amy C. Peterson sold 72,776 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.47, for a total value of $3,309,124.72. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 465,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,161,419.71. This trade represents a 13.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tomas J. Heyman sold 4,544 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.29, for a total value of $201,253.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,470 shares in the company, valued at $1,438,096.30. This represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 458,113 shares of company stock valued at $21,024,817 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.85% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Exelixis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $47.00 price target (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.56.

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.