Canal Insurance CO Takes Position in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Canal Insurance CO purchased a new stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 20,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Exelixis by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,501,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $805,412,000 after purchasing an additional 3,466,000 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,658,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $598,647,000 after purchasing an additional 4,477,029 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Exelixis by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,054,743 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $265,379,000 after purchasing an additional 94,218 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,259,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $186,705,000 after purchasing an additional 78,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,206,656 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $184,378,000 after purchasing an additional 995,949 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelixis Price Performance

Shares of Exelixis stock opened at $56.04 on Tuesday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.76 and a 1-year high of $57.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.42.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.12. Exelixis had a return on equity of 39.89% and a net margin of 35.08%.The firm had revenue of $610.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. Exelixis’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXEL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on shares of Exelixis from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Exelixis from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Dana Aftab sold 43,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,187,757.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 594,741 shares in the company, valued at $29,945,209.35. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sue Gail Eckhardt sold 9,812 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total value of $491,973.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at $806,201.06. This trade represents a 37.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 219,170 shares of company stock valued at $10,620,641 in the last ninety days. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exelixis Profile

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis’s translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company’s most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.