Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys Shares of 7,019 Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,019 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Exelixis by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Exelixis by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 58,159 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,937,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America downgraded Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.59.

Exelixis Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of EXEL traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.81. 419,131 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,139,306. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $35.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.46. The company has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. Exelixis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.14 and a twelve month high of $40.02.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $1,059,407.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 779,607 shares in the company, valued at $28,174,996.98. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. This represents a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234 in the last three months. 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.