abrdn plc Invests $16 Million in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

abrdn plc bought a new position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 666,837 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,997,000. abrdn plc owned about 0.21% of Exelixis at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,629,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Exelixis by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 192,165 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,610,000 after purchasing an additional 12,118 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Exelixis by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 60,240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,994 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Exelixis by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 224,409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,384,000 after purchasing an additional 7,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its position in Exelixis by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 91,447 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 7,679 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Price Performance

EXEL opened at $23.71 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.16. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.08 and a 1 year high of $24.34. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $479.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $481.23 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 8.57%. Equities analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total transaction of $1,008,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,866 shares in the company, valued at $8,255,375.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Alan M. Garber sold 19,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $461,112.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $857,229.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total transaction of $1,008,579.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,255,375.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.