Essential Partners LLC Sells 11,819 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Essential Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 48.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,527 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 11,819 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 48.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,658,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $598,647,000 after buying an additional 4,477,029 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Exelixis by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,054,743 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $265,379,000 after buying an additional 94,218 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Exelixis by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $184,391,000 after acquiring an additional 39,920 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Exelixis by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,206,656 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $184,378,000 after acquiring an additional 995,949 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Exelixis by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,722,334 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXEL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.29.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of EXEL stock opened at $55.97 on Friday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.76 and a 52 week high of $57.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.67 and its 200-day moving average is $47.54.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.12. Exelixis had a return on equity of 39.89% and a net margin of 35.08%.The business had revenue of $610.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $607.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director George Poste sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.71, for a total value of $2,742,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 118,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,431,810.72. This trade represents a 33.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Maria C. Freire sold 20,634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $949,164.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 100,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,637,674. This trade represents a 16.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 219,170 shares of company stock valued at $10,620,641. Insiders own 2.60% 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.