Sterling Capital Management LLC Purchases 40,650 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 254.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 56,605 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,650 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $3,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Exelixis during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Exelixis by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 757 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Exelixis during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis during the second quarter worth $57,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EXEL shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $64.53 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.19 and a 200-day moving average of $53.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.47. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.00 and a 12 month high of $65.50.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $628.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.40 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 35.33% and a return on equity of 42.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelixis news, Director Mary Beckerle sold 9,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.66, for a total transaction of $526,511.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at $862,799.14. The trade was a 37.90% 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 link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing medicines for cancer and other serious diseases. The company’s research programs center primarily on targeted therapies, including treatments designed to inhibit signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and progression.

Exelixis’ lead product is CABOMETYX (cabozantinib), an oral medicine approved in the United States for certain patients with renal cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and differentiated thyroid cancer.