Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 111.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,115,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,113,916 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $92,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Exelixis by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $805,412,000 after purchasing an additional 3,466,000 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Exelixis by 1,230.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,195,971 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $131,994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955,813 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Exelixis during the 4th quarter valued at $106,460,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Exelixis by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,181,359 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $379,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Exelixis by 100.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,655,069 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $109,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,087 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EXEL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial upgraded Exelixis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Exelixis from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price target on Exelixis from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.35.

Exelixis Price Performance

EXEL stock opened at $52.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $13.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.41. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.76 and a 1 year high of $53.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.68.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.51 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 39.89% and a net margin of 35.08%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In related news, Director Maria C. Freire sold 20,634 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $949,164.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 100,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,637,674. The trade was a 16.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,187,757.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 594,741 shares in the company, valued at $29,945,209.35. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 219,170 shares of company stock valued at $10,620,641 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Company Profile

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis’s translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company’s most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.