VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $1.86 Million in Exact Sciences Corporation $EXAS

Key Points

• The Virginia Retirement Systems invested approximately $1.86 million in Exact Sciences Corporation by acquiring 34,900 shares during the second quarter.
• Exact Sciences received upgrades from multiple brokerages, with Barclays increasing their target price from $55.00 to $65.00 and maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Exact Sciences reported a 16% increase in revenue year-over-year, totaling $811.09 million for the quarter, alongside earnings per share of $0.22, surpassing analysts' expectations.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 34,900 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,855,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on EXAS. Barclays upped their target price on Exact Sciences from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 target price on Exact Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. BTIG Research cut their target price on Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Exact Sciences from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.19.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $63.41 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $53.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.39. Exact Sciences Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.81 and a fifty-two week high of $72.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.56.

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

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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