Empowered Funds LLC Has $14.39 Million Holdings in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 37.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 335,606 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 91,767 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.13% of Exelixis worth $14,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EXEL. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Exelixis by 48.8% in the 4th 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 position 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 valued at $265,379,000 after purchasing an additional 94,218 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 0.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,299,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $184,391,000 after buying an additional 39,920 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,206,656 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $184,378,000 after buying an additional 995,949 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,722,334 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $163,150,000 after buying an additional 1,067,265 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of EXEL opened at $55.27 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.42. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.76 and a 52 week high of $57.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.12. Exelixis had a return on equity of 39.89% and a net margin of 35.08%.The business had revenue of $610.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.51 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 32,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $1,599,399.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 357,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,813,948.78. This trade represents a 8.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sue Gail Eckhardt sold 9,812 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $491,973.68. Following the sale, the director owned 16,079 shares in the company, valued at $806,201.06. This 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 219,170 shares of company stock worth $10,620,641 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on EXEL shares. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Exelixis from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Exelixis from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Exelixis from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.29.

Exelixis Company 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.