Marshall Wace LLP Trims Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Marshall Wace LLP decreased its holdings in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 338,284 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 36,327 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.12% of Exelixis worth $11,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelixis currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.59.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of EXEL stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.43. 1,709,889 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,182,134. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $36.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.73. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.14 and a 12-month high of $40.02. The stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total value of $331,430.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 356,605 shares in the company, valued at $13,479,669. The trade was a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,561.28. This trade represents a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234. 2.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.