Voya Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 30.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 270,588 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 116,111 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.09% of Exelixis worth $9,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EXEL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Exelixis by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Exelixis by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 58,159 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,937,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Exelixis by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Exelixis by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Exelixis stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,991,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,157,631. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.04. The stock has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.14 and a 12-month high of $40.02.

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 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In related news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $1,059,407.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 779,607 shares in the company, valued at $28,174,996.98. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total value of $694,600.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,396.50. This represents a 35.75 % 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 over the last three months. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EXEL. Oppenheimer lowered Exelixis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Exelixis from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.59.

Exelixis 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.