Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) Stake Lessened by Wasatch Advisors LP

Wasatch Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 437,873 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 69,314 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $29,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences in the third quarter worth about $3,052,000. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,080,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Exact Sciences by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 9,433 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 1,854 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Soros Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,522,000. Institutional investors own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Exact Sciences from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Benchmark cut their target price on Exact Sciences from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $65,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $958,090. This trade represents a 6.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $51.35 per share, with a total value of $1,001,325.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,074,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,159,707.85. This trade represents a 1.85 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

Shares of EXAS opened at $62.08 on Friday. Exact Sciences Co. has a 12-month low of $40.62 and a 12-month high of $79.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a PE ratio of -53.06 and a beta of 1.27.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.01). Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 7.95% and a negative return on equity of 6.17%. The company had revenue of $708.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.80 million. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Exact Sciences

Exact Sciences Corporation provides cancer screening and diagnostic test products in the United States and internationally. The company offers Cologuard, a non-invasive stool-based DNA screening test to detect DNA and hemoglobin biomarkers associated with colorectal cancer and pre-cancer. It also provides Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score Test; Oncotype DX Breast DCIS Score Test; Oncotype DX Colon Recurrence Score Test; OncoExTra Test for tumor profiling for patients with advanced, metastatic, refractory, relapsed, or recurrent cancer; and Covid-19 testing services.