Swiss National Bank Sells 6,800 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Swiss National Bank lessened its position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 504,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 6,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $16,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 4.9% in the 4th 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 grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on EXEL. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelixis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,561.28. This represents a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total transaction of $1,946,479.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 303,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,216,403.80. This represents a 14.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Exelixis Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $36.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.48 and a 200-day moving average of $32.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.14 and a 12 month high of $40.02.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.