Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 5,011 Shares of Exact Sciences Corporation $EXAS

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. has reduced its stake in Exact Sciences by 51.4%, now holding 4,735 shares valued at approximately $205,000.
• Institutional investors have been active, with companies like Larson Financial Group and National Pension Service increasing their holdings significantly in the first quarter.
• Despite recent reductions in target prices from various research analysts, the consensus rating for Exact Sciences stock remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $67.05.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. trimmed its holdings in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 51.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,735 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,011 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Exact Sciences by 2,804.8% during the 1st 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 last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 75.1% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 681 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in Exact Sciences by 95.8% during the 1st 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. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on EXAS. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Exact Sciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.05.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXAS traded up $2.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.81. 4,185,220 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,240,832. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.11. Exact Sciences Corporation has a 1 year low of $38.81 and a 1 year high of $72.83. The company has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $170,612.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 72,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,870,778.80. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James Edward Doyle sold 1,485 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 59,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,519,603.24. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.