Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,373 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,981 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,373 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 553 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of EXEL opened at $37.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.00. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.14 and a 1-year high of $40.02.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Exelixis news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. This trade represents a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 owns 303,310 shares in the company, valued at $11,216,403.80. The trade was a 14.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXEL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Exelixis from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer lowered Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.59.

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.