California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,974,291 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 203,163 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.63% of Exelixis worth $47,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EXEL. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Denali Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 7,995.2% during the third quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 44.2% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 17.1% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,577 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis during the third quarter valued at about $100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on EXEL shares. TheStreet upgraded Exelixis from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays lowered Exelixis from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.29.

Insider Activity

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

Exelixis Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXEL traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,560,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,843,234. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.54. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $18.08 and a one year high of $24.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.19.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. Exelixis had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $479.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.23 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

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.