Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 87.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,140 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 1st quarter worth $325,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 32,884,561 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $745,493,000 after acquiring an additional 607,183 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 171,286 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,990,000 after acquiring an additional 11,941 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 166,497 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 1st quarter worth $12,872,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXEL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays downgraded Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Exelixis from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet raised Exelixis from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Exelixis from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Edward Johnson acquired 190,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.70 per share, for a total transaction of $3,933,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,100,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,785,111. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $461,112.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $857,229.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Edward Johnson bought 190,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.70 per share, with a total value of $3,933,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,100,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,785,111. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Price Performance

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $22.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.13. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.08 and a 1-year high of $24.34.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $479.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.23 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.