Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Makes New $709,000 Investment in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 17,162 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Exelixis by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,606,079 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $335,238,000 after purchasing an additional 712,190 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,445,469 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $328,196,000 after acquiring an additional 28,289 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 42.9% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,262,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $231,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580,567 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 1,230.8% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,195,971 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $131,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,955,813 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Exelixis by 120.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 3,047,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $134,306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,665,110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.11.

Exelixis Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of EXEL stock opened at $44.75 on Thursday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.38 and a 12-month high of $49.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.06 and a 200-day moving average of $41.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.20. Exelixis had a return on equity of 36.29% and a net margin of 33.73%.The firm had revenue of $598.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $609.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 29,873 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.35, for a total value of $1,324,867.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 664,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,449,464.40. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 99,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $4,382,251.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 279,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,320,247.42. This trade represents a 26.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 314,931 shares of company stock worth $13,785,112 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.82% of the company’s stock.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis’s translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company’s most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.