Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $33.51 Million Stock Position in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 773,975 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 34,540 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.42% of Exact Sciences worth $33,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EXAS. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,447 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 7,036 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 24,896 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its holdings in Exact Sciences by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 26,153 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Exact Sciences by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 80,216 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,507,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXAS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Exact Sciences from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Exact Sciences from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Exact Sciences from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.50.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ EXAS traded down $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.91. 1,740,956 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,578,314. The stock has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of -9.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.95. Exact Sciences Corporation has a one year low of $39.97 and a one year high of $72.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.36 and a 200-day moving average of $51.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $706.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.58 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 3.75% and a negative net margin of 36.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.60) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exact Sciences 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 in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.