Bank of Montreal Can Buys 35,496 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 51.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,385 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,496 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in Exelixis were worth $2,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exelixis in the third quarter worth $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Exelixis by 107.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Exelixis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in Exelixis in the third quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Exelixis by 81.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,953 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on EXEL. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Exelixis from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.44.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.04. 1,640,814 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,066,896. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.38 and a 200-day moving average of $26.42. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.20 and a 52-week high of $36.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. Exelixis had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,162 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.40, for a total value of $36,486.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 498,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,666,873. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.38, for a total transaction of $659,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 605,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,968,473.50. The trade was a 3.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 339,736 shares of company stock worth $11,508,610. 2.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.