Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 8.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,355,014 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 109,469 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.50% of Exelixis worth $59,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis in the 1st quarter valued at $572,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the second quarter valued at about $321,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis in the second quarter worth about $212,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis during the first quarter worth about $572,000. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Exelixis during the first quarter worth about $3,589,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 48,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.50, for a total transaction of $2,056,277.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 664,778 shares in the company, valued at $28,253,065. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 24,622 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total transaction of $1,032,400.46. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,380 shares in the company, valued at $896,463.40. This represents a 53.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 245,235 shares of company stock valued at $10,490,600. 2.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of EXEL stock opened at $42.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.73. Exelixis, Inc. has a one year low of $31.90 and a one year high of $49.62.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.10. Exelixis had a return on equity of 27.47% and a net margin of 27.01%.The company had revenue of $597.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Exelixis has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EXEL. Zacks Research cut Exelixis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Exelixis in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on Exelixis from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Exelixis from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.45.

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.