Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 31.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 665,742 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 306,948 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Exelixis worth $17,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EXEL. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 3.8% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 35,771 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 81.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 505,319 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $11,991,000 after buying an additional 227,541 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 3.4% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 319,794 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $7,589,000 after purchasing an additional 10,399 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Exelixis by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 758,969 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $18,010,000 after buying an additional 8,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Exelixis by 148.2% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,267,894 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $53,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,062 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Exelixis from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelixis has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.44.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 530,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,099,992.25. This trade represents a 8.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 96,986 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $3,394,510.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 498,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,463,075. This represents a 16.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 248,148 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,547 in the last ninety days. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exelixis Stock Performance

EXEL traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.73. The stock had a trading volume of 978,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,073,414. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.51. Exelixis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.20 and a twelve month high of $36.60. The company's 50-day moving average price is $28.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.06.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $490.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.