Graham Capital Management L.P. Boosts Stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 81.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,821 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,883 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Exelixis were worth $660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,429,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $979,994,000 after buying an additional 121,750 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,169,847 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $272,056,000 after buying an additional 67,470 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,630,940 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $254,110,000 after buying an additional 708,312 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 308.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,975,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $132,376,000 after buying an additional 3,001,204 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,967,005 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $132,101,000 after buying an additional 810,857 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EXEL. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Exelixis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $47.00 price objective (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $1,946,479.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,216,403.80. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total transaction of $58,812.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 693,181 shares in the company, valued at $27,034,059. This trade represents a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 141,851 shares of company stock valued at $5,236,046 in the last ninety days. 2.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exelixis Trading Up 20.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $44.65 on Thursday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.14 and a 12 month high of $45.29. The company has a market cap of $12.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.56.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current 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.

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