KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Sells 26,100 Shares of Exact Sciences Corporation $EXAS

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS reduced its stake in Exact Sciences Corporation by 40.5%, selling 26,100 shares and now holding 38,400 shares valued at $2,041,000.
• Exact Sciences received multiple upgrades from analysts, including a change from "hold" to "strong-buy" by Zacks Research and a target price increase from $65.00 to $85.00 by Craig Hallum.
• The company's stock performance shows a 52-week trading range with a low of $38.81 and a high of $72.83, currently trading around $58.34.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lowered its position in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,400 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 26,100 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $2,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 2,804.8% during 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 during the period. National Pension Service boosted its position 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXAS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Exact Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 target price on Exact Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Exact Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.19.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Exact Sciences stock opened at $58.34 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.89. Exact Sciences Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.81 and a fifty-two week high of $72.83. The company has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of -10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.24.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.24. The company had revenue of $811.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

In related news, Director James Edward Doyle sold 2,000 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 57,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,477,720. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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