Wasatch Advisors LP Reduces Position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Wasatch Advisors LP lowered its stake in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 261,580 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 13,248 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $19,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the third quarter valued at about $757,000. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 32,891 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,011 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 3.5% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 14,142 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $965,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC grew its position in Exact Sciences by 26.5% during the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 5,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Exact Sciences by 9.6% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 223,509 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,248,000 after buying an additional 19,485 shares in the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EXAS shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. BTIG Research cut their price objective on Exact Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Exact Sciences in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. TheStreet cut shares of Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 1,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.15, for a total value of $69,473.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,156,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,544,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Exact Sciences news, EVP Sarah Condella sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $140,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,025,090. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 1,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.15, for a total transaction of $69,473.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,156,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,544,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,498 shares of company stock worth $370,105 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Down 2.1 %

Exact Sciences stock traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,534,380. Exact Sciences Co. has a 1 year low of $41.86 and a 1 year high of $100.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50). Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 9.48% and a negative return on equity of 7.12%. The business had revenue of $637.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $624.95 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.15 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.