Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Position in Exelixis, Inc. $EXEL

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 204,211 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 32,737 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.08% of Exelixis worth $8,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Westover Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 77,035 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,182,000 after acquiring an additional 29,316 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Exelixis in the third quarter valued at about $346,000. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 98.7% during the third quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 20,564 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 10,215 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 10.9% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 7,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelixis by 3,670.7% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 45,625 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after buying an additional 44,415 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 28,043 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.58, for a total transaction of $1,194,070.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 374,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,926,154.82. This trade represents a 6.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 72,230 shares of company stock worth $3,046,923 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Exelixis from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group set a $41.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.11.

Exelixis Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $43.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.95. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.38 and a 12-month high of $49.62.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $598.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $609.17 million. Exelixis had a net margin of 33.73% and a return on equity of 36.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Exelixis

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.