MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 12,894 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 171,209 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,894 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Exelixis worth $5,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at about $158,000. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $479,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 113.8% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 27,908 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 14,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EAM Global Investors LLC bought a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at $3,615,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total transaction of $1,946,479.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 303,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,216,403.80. The trade was a 14.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $13,479,669. The trade was a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234 in the last three months. 2.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of EXEL traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 415,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,175,203. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $20.14 and a one year high of $40.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $36.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.82.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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, research analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share 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.