Fisher Asset Management LLC Takes $1.49 Million Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 44,829 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,493,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 58,928 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,962,000 after buying an additional 4,049 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $706,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $561,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 58,159 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,937,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Exelixis by 49.8% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 12,631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. This represents a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total value of $388,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 341,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,231,886.40. The trade was a 2.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on EXEL. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.24.

Exelixis Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Exelixis stock opened at $38.65 on Thursday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.14 and a 52 week high of $39.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.91. The firm has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelixis 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.