Calamos Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 67,884 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,629,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in Exelixis by 7,995.2% in the 3rd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,679 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Exelixis by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Exelixis by 87.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,552 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,577 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of EXEL traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $22.87. 1,535,568 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,288,064. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.08 and a 52 week high of $24.34. The company's 50 day moving average is $22.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.73, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EXEL shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Exelixis from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet upgraded Exelixis from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total transaction of $1,008,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,866 shares in the company, valued at $8,255,375.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $461,112.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,703 shares in the company, valued at $857,229.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 384,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,255,375.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.