Raymond James Financial Inc. Trims Stake in Exact Sciences Corporation $EXAS

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Exact Sciences Corporation by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, now holding 143,746 shares valued at approximately $6.22 million.
• Mackenzie Financial Corp significantly increased its position in Exact Sciences by 107.7%, acquiring an additional 1,513,873 shares and bringing its total to approximately $164 million.
• Exact Sciences reported a 16.0% year-over-year increase in revenue for the quarter, totaling $811.09 million, and a positive earnings per share (EPS) of $0.22, exceeding analyst expectations.

Raymond James Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 16.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 143,746 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 27,307 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Exact Sciences worth $6,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EXAS. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 2,804.8% in the first 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 in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 75.1% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 681 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Exact Sciences in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 95.8% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 926 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Exact Sciences Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of EXAS stock traded down $0.07 on Monday, hitting $53.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,672,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,803,555. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.11. Exact Sciences Corporation has a twelve month low of $38.81 and a twelve month high of $72.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.82, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on EXAS. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $61.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Exact Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, 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 for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exact Sciences news, Director Katherine S. Zanotti sold 3,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.20, for a total value of $170,612.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 72,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,870,778.80. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James Edward Doyle sold 1,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.02, for a total transaction of $62,399.70. Following the sale, 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. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.