Retirement Systems of Alabama Grows Stock Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - Free Report) by 24.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 911,497 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 180,021 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.32% of Exelixis worth $23,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis during the second quarter valued at approximately $489,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Exelixis by 3.2% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 137,192 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 4,274 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 81.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,953 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 109,856 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,468,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Exelixis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Exelixis Price Performance

EXEL traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $35.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,498,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,052,119. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $32.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.14. Exelixis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.20 and a twelve month high of $36.97. The stock has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.52.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $0.40 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $539.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 1,162 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.40, for a total transaction of $36,486.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 498,945 shares in the company, valued at $15,666,873. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Hessekiel sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.38, for a total value of $659,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 605,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,968,473.50. This represents a 3.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 339,736 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,610 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on EXEL shares. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Exelixis to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Exelixis from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.44.

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.