Vanguard Group Inc. Has $979.99 Million Stock Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,429,252 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 121,750 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.10% of Exelixis worth $979,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Exelixis Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $36.70 on Friday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.14 and a 52 week high of $40.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.71 and a 200-day moving average of $33.22.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. Equities research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on EXEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $36.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday. Bank of America cut shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total value of $331,430.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 356,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,479,669. This represents a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total value of $388,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 341,028 shares in the company, valued at $13,231,886.40. The trade was a 2.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

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.