Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 821,309 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 53,161 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.29% of Exelixis worth $27,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EXEL. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Exelixis by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on EXEL shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.59.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total transaction of $331,430.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 356,605 shares in the company, valued at $13,479,669. The trade was a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. The trade was a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Exelixis stock opened at $36.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a fifty-two week high of $40.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.39.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelixis Company 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.