First Trust Advisors LP Sells 24,854 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its holdings in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 802,767 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 24,854 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.43% of Exact Sciences worth $45,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Exact Sciences by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 241,774 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $13,585,000 after acquiring an additional 36,505 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Exact Sciences by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 95,827 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,385,000 after purchasing an additional 24,992 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Exact Sciences by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,508 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 2,315 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $478,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 13,625 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. 88.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.79. 319,801 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,594,728. Exact Sciences Co. has a one year low of $39.97 and a one year high of $72.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.24 and a 200 day moving average of $53.84. The company has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.06 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.23. The business had revenue of $713.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $701.45 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 37.29% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EXAS. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.25.

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.