Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Buys Shares of 12,600 Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,065 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 1,125 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Exelixis by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,269 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,119 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,501,000 after purchasing an additional 10,391 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,728,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Exelixis by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 63,447 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,113,000 after purchasing an additional 3,349 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on EXEL shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Exelixis from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,561.28. The trade was a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total transaction of $388,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 341,028 shares in the company, valued at $13,231,886.40. This trade represents a 2.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,234. 2.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of Exelixis stock opened at $37.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.60. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.14 and a 1 year high of $40.02.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Exelixis Company 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.