Exact Sciences Corporation $EXAS Stock Holdings Increased by Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.

Key Points

• Amova Asset Management Americas boosted its stake in Exact Sciences by 671.5% in Q3 to 1,286,595 shares (about 0.68% of the company, worth ~$70.4M), and other institutions including MFS, William Blair, Dimensional and ARK also added shares, leaving institutional ownership at 88.82%.
• Analysts have grown cautious—MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Reduce with an average price target of $92.13 amid several downgrades and mixed price-target moves (e.g., Barclays and Stifel raised targets to $105 while multiple firms cut ratings).
• Exact Sciences has a market cap of ~$19.8B and its stock recently traded near a 12‑month high (~$103.5); revenue rose 23.1% YoY but the company missed quarterly EPS (reported -$0.21 vs. $0.08 expected) and is forecast to post roughly -$0.58 EPS for the year.

Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 671.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,286,595 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,119,830 shares during the period. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. owned about 0.68% of Exact Sciences worth $70,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 31.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,909,501 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $213,889,000 after purchasing an additional 939,888 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,555,051 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $139,787,000 after purchasing an additional 534,881 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,529,820 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $134,435,000 after buying an additional 282,825 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,188,864 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $119,732,000 after buying an additional 239,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Exact Sciences by 6,072,588.9% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,186,168 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $119,605,000 after buying an additional 2,186,132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on EXAS shares. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up from $77.00) on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Exact Sciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. William Blair downgraded shares of Exact Sciences from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Exact Sciences from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $92.13.

Exact Sciences Stock Up 0.1%

EXAS stock opened at $103.50 on Thursday. Exact Sciences Corporation has a twelve month low of $38.81 and a twelve month high of $103.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $19.76 billion, a PE ratio of -94.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $102.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.06.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.29). Exact Sciences had a positive return on equity of 0.53% and a negative net margin of 6.40%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.06) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

About Exact Sciences

Exact Sciences Corporation is a molecular diagnostics company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, dedicated to the early detection and prevention of cancer. The company's flagship product, Cologuard®, is a noninvasive, stool-based DNA screening test for colorectal cancer that was developed in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic. By combining DNA mutation analysis with hemoglobin detection, Cologuard aims to improve screening adherence and identify cancers and precancerous lesions in average-risk adults.

Since its founding in 1995, Exact Sciences has expanded its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and internal research and development.

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