Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 6,137 Shares of Exact Sciences Corporation $EXAS

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Exact Sciences Corporation by 1.8% during Q1, owning 348,239 shares worth approximately $15.07 million.
• Exact Sciences reported earnings per share of $0.22 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and had revenues of $811.09 million, marking a 16% year-over-year increase.
• Wall Street analysts have varied projections for Exact Sciences, with price targets ranging from $46.00 to $64.00, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 348,239 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.18% of Exact Sciences worth $15,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Exact Sciences during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 24.0% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 33,598 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,454,000 after acquiring an additional 6,508 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Exact Sciences during the first quarter worth about $1,171,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 15.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,243 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 110.0% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 8,799 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 4,609 shares in the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In other news, Director Katherine S. Zanotti sold 3,207 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 72,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,870,778.80. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James Edward Doyle sold 1,485 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly 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.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Exact Sciences stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.71. 2,146,231 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,780,808. 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 50 day simple moving average of $49.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.19. Exact Sciences Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.81 and a fifty-two week high of $72.83. The stock has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on EXAS shares. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Exact Sciences from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Exact Sciences from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Exact Sciences has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.05.

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.