Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Shares Acquired by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 479.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,965 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 94,283 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in Exelixis were worth $3,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Exelixis by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Exelixis by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on EXEL. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America downgraded Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer lowered Exelixis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Exelixis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.59.

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Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of Exelixis stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.68. The company had a trading volume of 2,342,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,146,256. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a fifty-two week high of $40.02. The firm's fifty day moving average is $35.86 and its 200-day moving average is $33.51. The company has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total value of $694,600.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,396.50. The trade was a 35.75 % 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 Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 303,310 shares in the company, valued at $11,216,403.80. The trade was a 14.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company's stock.

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.