Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,903 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 25,594 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 81.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 505,319 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,991,000 after purchasing an additional 227,541 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Exelixis by 3.4% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 319,794 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,589,000 after acquiring an additional 10,399 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in Exelixis in the first quarter worth approximately $1,216,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Exelixis by 155.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,039 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 60,925 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,218 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, October 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.44.

Exelixis Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $34.45 on Friday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.20 and a 52 week high of $36.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.14. The company has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.51.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $539.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.31 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. Exelixis’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $515,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 630,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,256,081.75. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.40, for a total transaction of $36,486.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 498,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,666,873. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 248,148 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,547. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

About Exelixis

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.