Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires 2,897 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 33,296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,897 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $1,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1,176.4% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 62,414 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 57,524 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Exelixis by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Exelixis by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Exelixis by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,936 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 4,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $437,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on EXEL shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Exelixis from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.06.

Exelixis Stock Performance

EXEL stock opened at $33.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.35. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.01 and a 52-week high of $37.59.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total transaction of $2,200,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 486,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,823,783.53. This trade represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total transaction of $352,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 278,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,828,514.55. This represents a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,588 shares of company stock worth $3,981,864 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.