Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 24,211 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 2,920.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,040 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 24,211 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $1,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXEL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Exelixis by 81.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 43,181 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after buying an additional 19,407 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Exelixis by 4.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,466,779 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,153,000 after buying an additional 68,133 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Exelixis by 83.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 38,458 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after buying an additional 17,483 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Exelixis by 134.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Exelixis by 23.8% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $633,000 after buying an additional 2,764 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director George Poste sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.71, for a total value of $2,742,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 118,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,431,810.72. The trade was a 33.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,187,757.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 594,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,945,209.35. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 219,170 shares of company stock worth $10,620,641 over the last ninety days. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Exelixis Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $52.70 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $46.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.54. The company has a market capitalization of $13.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.41. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.76 and a 1-year high of $52.98.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.51 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 39.89% and a net margin of 35.08%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research lowered Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Exelixis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.35.

Exelixis Profile

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis’s translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company’s most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.