Commerce Bank Reduces Stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Commerce Bank cut its position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 23.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 144,688 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 43,610 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $4,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 967 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,361 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Exelixis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Exelixis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.59.

Exelixis Price Performance

NASDAQ EXEL opened at $36.19 on Friday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.14 and a 1-year high of $40.02. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Exelixis had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 23.52%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack L. Wyszomierski sold 8,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total transaction of $331,430.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 356,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,479,669. This trade represents a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $425,884.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,561.28. This represents a 28.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.