Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 1,613,482 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 104.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,159,395 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,613,482 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 1.11% of Exelixis worth $105,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Exelixis by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position 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 valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Stock Down 5.8 %

Shares of EXEL stock traded down $2.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.57. 2,944,993 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,148,851. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $35.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.56. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.14 and a 1-year high of $40.02. The company has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

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Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EXEL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Brookline Capital Management began coverage on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Exelixis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.59.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total value of $331,430.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 356,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,479,669. This represents a 2.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 303,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,216,403.80. This represents a 14.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company's stock.

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.