BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 32,223 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 19.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 131,659 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 32,223 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Exelixis were worth $3,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis in the third quarter worth $42,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Exelixis in the 3rd quarter worth $149,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 6.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,462,072 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $63,891,000 after acquiring an additional 140,568 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 51.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 104,385 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 35,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 11.5% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 47,733 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 4,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Price Performance

EXEL stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $36.04. 1,640,814 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,066,896. The stock has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.20 and a 1 year high of $36.97. The firm's 50 day moving average is $31.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.42.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $490.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens boosted their price target on Exelixis from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Exelixis from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Exelixis to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.27, for a total value of $352,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 278,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,828,514.55. The trade was a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total value of $2,200,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 486,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,823,783.53. This represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 339,736 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,610. Corporate 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.