Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 617,384 Shares of Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Exact Sciences Corporation, raising their ownership by 3.6% with the purchase of 617,384 shares, totaling approximately $763.5 million in value.
• Institutional investors own 88.82% of Exact Sciences, with various firms like Cerity Partners and Merit Financial Group significantly increasing their holdings during the first quarter.
• Exact Sciences reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.22, surpassing analysts' expectations, and saw a revenue increase of 16.0% compared to the previous year.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,637,674 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 617,384 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.35% of Exact Sciences worth $763,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 80,188 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,436 shares during the last quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Exact Sciences by 21.1% during the first quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 293,878 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $12,722,000 after purchasing an additional 51,113 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych lifted its stake in Exact Sciences by 25.0% during the first quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 30,000 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,299,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences during the first quarter valued at approximately $20,803,000. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences during the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXAS traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.60. 3,885,891 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,811,439. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The company's 50 day moving average is $50.41 and its 200 day moving average is $49.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.93. Exact Sciences Corporation has a one year low of $38.81 and a one year high of $72.83.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $811.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exact Sciences

In other Exact Sciences news, Director Katherine S. Zanotti sold 3,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 59,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,519,603.24. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $61.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. 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 on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Exact Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.43.

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.