Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys New Shares in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 49,849 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,840,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EXEL. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 308.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,975,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $132,376,000 after buying an additional 3,001,204 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at about $94,867,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 330.4% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,484,395 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $82,730,000 after buying an additional 1,907,167 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Exelixis by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,159,395 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $105,208,000 after buying an additional 1,613,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelixis during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,321,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exelixis Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $45.91 on Friday. Exelixis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.86 and a fifty-two week high of $49.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.65. The company has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.28.

Insider Activity at Exelixis

In related news, CMO Amy C. Peterson sold 72,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.47, for a total transaction of $3,309,124.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 465,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,161,419.71. This trade represents a 13.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 34,387 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $1,515,091.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 412,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,155,892.32. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 458,113 shares of company stock valued at $21,024,817 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EXEL. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up from $43.00) on shares of Exelixis in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $47.00 target price (up from $40.00) on shares of Exelixis in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim set a $45.00 target price on shares of Exelixis and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.56.

About Exelixis

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.