EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Decreases Stock Position in Exact Sciences Corporation $EXAS

Key Points

• EFG Asset Management North America Corp. has reduced its stake in Exact Sciences Corporation by 23.7%, now owning 38,385 shares valued at approximately $1.66 million.
• Other institutional investors like Cerity Partners LLC and Merit Financial Group LLC have increased their holdings, indicating a mixed sentiment around the company.
• Despite some target price reductions from analysts, a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" persists for Exact Sciences, with an average target price of $67.05.

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lowered its position in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,385 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 11,917 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.'s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $1,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Exact Sciences by 107.7% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,919,325 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $164,037,000 after buying an additional 1,513,873 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $45,334,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 11.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,403,872 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $277,225,000 after acquiring an additional 643,631 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Exact Sciences by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,637,674 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $763,535,000 after purchasing an additional 617,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $20,803,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $170,612.40. Following the sale, the director owned 72,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,870,778.80. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Edward Doyle sold 1,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.02, for a total value of $62,399.70. Following the sale, the director owned 59,962 shares in the company, valued at $2,519,603.24. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on EXAS. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Exact Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Exact Sciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.05.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.71. 982,575 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,803,596. Exact Sciences Corporation has a 52 week low of $38.81 and a 52 week high of $72.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The firm has a market cap of $10.36 billion, a PE ratio of -10.09, a PEG ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 1.05. The company's 50 day moving average price is $48.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.18.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.24. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 1.75% and a negative net margin of 34.19%.The business had revenue of $811.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $774.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exact Sciences Profile

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.