Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Buys New Position in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Exelixis during the first quarter worth $27,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Exelixis during the first quarter worth $29,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of EXEL stock opened at $53.12 on Wednesday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.76 and a 52-week high of $57.57. The stock has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.20 and a 200-day moving average of $48.35.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.33% and a return on equity of 42.17%. The business had revenue of $628.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total value of $526,511.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,799.14. This represents a 37.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 3,925 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.55, for a total value of $198,408.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 284,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,375,611.20. The trade was a 1.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 67,000 shares of company stock worth $3,404,652 in the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EXEL. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.07.

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.