KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $3.80 Million Position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 114,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,803,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the third quarter worth approximately $4,396,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Exelixis by 134.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,302 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 8,208 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at $994,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Exelixis by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,462,072 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,891,000 after buying an additional 140,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Exelixis by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,562,790 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,884,000 after acquiring an additional 704,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bob Oliver sold 18,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total value of $694,600.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,396.50. This represents a 35.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total value of $331,430.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 356,605 shares in the company, valued at $13,479,669. This trade represents a 2.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Trading Down 1.9 %

EXEL opened at $37.01 on Thursday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.14 and a 12 month high of $40.02. The company has a market cap of $10.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.69 and a 200 day moving average of $33.12.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 24.04%. Research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXEL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $36.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on Exelixis from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.59.

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.