Peloton Wealth Strategists Trims Stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Peloton Wealth Strategists trimmed its stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 44,830 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Peloton Wealth Strategists’ holdings in Exelixis were worth $1,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Exelixis in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Exelixis by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EXEL. StockNews.com upgraded Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total value of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,561.28. This trade represents a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,216,403.80. The trade was a 14.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,807 shares of company stock valued at $4,126,373 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $37.65 on Friday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.14 and a 12 month high of $38.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.54. The company has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.53.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced 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 net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS 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.