Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) Stake Raised by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 891,985 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,342 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Exelixis worth $29,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Exelixis by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Exelixis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EXEL shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Brookline Capital Management assumed coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $1,946,479.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,216,403.80. The trade was a 14.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $694,600.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,396.50. The trade was a 35.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of EXEL opened at $34.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.60. Exelixis, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.14 and a twelve month high of $40.02.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share 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.