CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 46,445 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lessened its holdings in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 240,365 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 46,445 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $8,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Exelixis by 113.8% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 27,908 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 14,857 shares during the last quarter. EAM Global Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,615,000. EAM Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Exelixis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,920,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Exelixis in the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in Exelixis by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 47,545 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,583,000 after buying an additional 11,722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EXEL shares. StockNews.com raised Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Exelixis from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Exelixis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 52,636 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $1,946,479.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 303,310 shares in the company, valued at $11,216,403.80. This trade represents a 14.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 12,210 shares of Exelixis 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,561.28. The trade was a 28.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $36.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.43. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.14 and a 52-week high of $40.02.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (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%. Analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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.