Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Buys 67,256 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 80.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,153 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 67,256 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned about 0.05% of Exelixis worth $5,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EXEL. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Brookline Capital Management initiated coverage on Exelixis in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut Exelixis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Exelixis from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Exelixis from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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 stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.59.

Remove Ads

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. The trade was a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $1,946,479.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,216,403.80. This represents a 14.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Stock Up 2.5 %

Exelixis stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,146,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,174,346. Exelixis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.14 and a twelve month high of $40.02. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $36.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. Equities analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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.