Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) Stock Position Decreased by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in Exact Sciences Corporation by 17.8%, now owning $36.04 million worth of shares after selling 180,159 shares in the first quarter.
• Recent hedge fund activity showed a significant increase, with Larson Financial Group LLC raising their stake by 2,804.8%, now holding 610 shares worth $26,000.
• Analysts have varied target price updates for Exact Sciences, with Barclays reducing their target from $75 to $65 while others have issued "outperform" ratings, reflecting a consensus average target price of $70.50.

Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its position in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 17.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 832,568 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 180,159 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.44% of Exact Sciences worth $36,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXAS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,171,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 33,598 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 6,508 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,243 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 110.0% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 8,799 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 4,609 shares during the period. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

In related news, Director Katherine S. Zanotti sold 3,207 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.20, for a total transaction of $170,612.40. Following the sale, the director owned 72,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,870,778.80. The trade was a 4.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXAS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Exact Sciences from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Exact Sciences from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Exact Sciences from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.50.

Exact Sciences Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of EXAS stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $47.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 511,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,589,613. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $53.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.47. Exact Sciences Corporation has a 12-month low of $39.97 and a 12-month high of $72.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of -8.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 0.95.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.16. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 36.06% and a negative return on equity of 3.75%. The business had revenue of $706.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.60) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 EPS 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.