Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $2.09 Million in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 87,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,094,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Exelixis by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 681,104 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $16,340,000 after acquiring an additional 212,553 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 87.6% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,140 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 34,470 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Exelixis by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 380,093 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $9,065,000 after buying an additional 136,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Exelixis by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 421,377 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $10,109,000 after buying an additional 10,617 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EXEL shares. Barclays lowered Exelixis from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.29.

Exelixis Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:EXEL traded down $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $22.49. The stock had a trading volume of 2,610,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,297,542. The company has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.54. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.08 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.13.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Exelixis had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $479.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $481.23 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Edward Johnson acquired 190,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.70 per share, for a total transaction of $3,933,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,100,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,785,111. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total value of $1,008,579.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,866 shares in the company, valued at $8,255,375.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Edward Johnson bought 190,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.70 per share, for a total transaction of $3,933,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,100,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,785,111. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.