Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 66.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,584 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 69,134 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.06% of Exelixis worth $4,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 90,211 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,031,000 after acquiring an additional 28,126 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1.6% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 27,102,500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $608,993,000 after buying an additional 424,000 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 155.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,039 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,374,000 after buying an additional 60,925 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Exelixis by 60.3% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 54,863 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,424,000 after buying an additional 20,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Exelixis by 107.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on EXEL shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Exelixis to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Exelixis from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 13th. One investment 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, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 20,883 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total transaction of $565,093.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 500,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,532,895.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 20,883 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total transaction of $565,093.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 500,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,532,895.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total value of $1,706,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 530,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,099,992.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 277,281 shares of company stock worth $8,826,761 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.85% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.25. The company had a trading volume of 2,227,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,840,695. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.20 and a 52-week high of $36.60. The stock has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.51. The company's 50 day moving average price is $28.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.73.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. Exelixis had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 22.43%. The business had revenue of $539.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $490.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelixis Company 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.