First Trust Advisors LP Has $84.58 Million Stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,539,863 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 328,754 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.89% of Exelixis worth $84,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Exelixis by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $1,059,407.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 779,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,174,996.98. This represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. This represents a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234. 2.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on EXEL shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exelixis has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.59.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.43. 1,709,889 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,182,134. The company has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $36.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.73. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $20.14 and a one year high of $40.02.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. Analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.