Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Stock Holdings in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 88,233 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 5,596 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $3,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 2,804.8% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 610 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Ostrum Asset Management raised its holdings in Exact Sciences by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Ostrum Asset Management now owns 2,382 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Exact Sciences by 14.3% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,986 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 373 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 brokerages have weighed in on EXAS. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Exact Sciences from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Exact Sciences from $61.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.62.

Exact Sciences Trading Down 3.4%

Exact Sciences stock traded down $1.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,968,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,724,258. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.67, a P/E/G ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's fifty day moving average is $51.86 and its 200 day moving average is $50.16. Exact Sciences Corporation has a 1-year low of $38.81 and a 1-year high of $72.83.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.24. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 34.19% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. The business had revenue of $811.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $774.43 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

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.