20,000 Shares in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL Bought by Canal Insurance CO

Canal Insurance CO purchased a new position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EXEL. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Exelixis by 500.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Exelixis by 1,380.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 829 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sue Gail Eckhardt sold 9,812 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $491,973.68. Following the sale, the director owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,201.06. This represents a 37.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 32,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $1,599,399.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 357,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,813,948.78. This represents a 8.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 219,170 shares of company stock worth $10,620,641. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on EXEL shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Exelixis from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.53.

Exelixis Stock Down 0.8%

Exelixis stock opened at $56.04 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.53. Exelixis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.76 and a twelve month high of $57.57. The company has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.42.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $610.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.51 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.08% and a return on equity of 39.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.