Denali Advisors LLC Buys 4,200 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Denali Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 49.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. raised 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EXEL shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.24.

Exelixis Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $37.65 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $34.42 and its 200 day moving average is $31.54. The company has a market capitalization of $10.54 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a fifty-two week high of $38.43.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Exelixis news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,561.28. This trade represents a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $1,946,479.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,216,403.80. This trade represents a 14.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,807 shares of company stock worth $4,126,373 in the last three months. Company 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.