Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 97,342 Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 891,985 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,342 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Exelixis were worth $29,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 129.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 15,777 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Exelixis by 6.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,462,072 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,891,000 after acquiring an additional 140,568 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Exelixis by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 35,430 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exelixis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,225,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 123,347 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis Stock Down 5.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $34.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.57. Exelixis, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.14 and a 12-month high of $40.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.60.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Exelixis, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on EXEL. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $36.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, February 24th. Brookline Capital Management assumed coverage on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Exelixis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelixis

In other Exelixis news, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 29,314 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $1,059,407.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 779,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,174,996.98. This represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 10,000 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total transaction of $388,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 341,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,231,886.40. This represents a 2.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,343 shares of company stock worth $5,177,234. Insiders own 2.85% of the company’s stock.

Exelixis 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.