Brenda Hefti Sells 6,625 Shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stock

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) SVP Brenda Hefti sold 6,625 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.21, for a total value of $332,641.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 106,762 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,520.02. This represents a 5.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Brenda Hefti also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 18th, Brenda Hefti sold 18,669 shares of Exelixis stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $821,622.69.

Exelixis Price Performance

EXEL stock traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.67. 2,843,823 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,761,301. The company has a market capitalization of $12.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.38. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.76 and a fifty-two week high of $51.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $44.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.58.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.08% and a return on equity of 39.89%. The firm had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $607.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. Exelixis’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Exelixis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $517,000. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in Exelixis by 18.4% during the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 696,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,749,000 after purchasing an additional 108,367 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 11.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,180,912 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $172,658,000 after purchasing an additional 419,596 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 153.3% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,462,948 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $101,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,520 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Exelixis by 19.1% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 204,211 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,434,000 after purchasing an additional 32,737 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EXEL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Exelixis from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Exelixis from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial raised shares of Exelixis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Exelixis from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.35.

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.