Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 1,613,482 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 104.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,159,395 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,613,482 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 1.11% of Exelixis worth $105,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXEL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Exelixis by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,890 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Exelixis by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 58,159 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Exelixis by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total transaction of $1,946,479.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,216,403.80. This trade represents a 14.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total value of $694,600.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 33,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,396.50. The trade was a 35.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Trading Down 0.4 %

EXEL stock opened at $36.70 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.71 and its 200 day moving average is $33.32. The stock has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.14 and a 1-year high of $40.02.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Exelixis

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.