Weiss Asset Management LP Makes New Investment in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 11,580 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EXEL. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exelixis in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Exelixis by 1,380.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 829 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Exelixis stock opened at $56.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.42. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.76 and a fifty-two week high of $57.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.38.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $610.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXEL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Exelixis from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered Exelixis from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Exelixis from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,187,757.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 594,741 shares in the company, valued at $29,945,209.35. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 34,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $1,745,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 952,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,615,850. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 219,170 shares of company stock valued at $10,620,641. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Exelixis

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.