ARK Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

ARK Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,032,893 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 248,038 shares during the quarter. Exact Sciences comprises approximately 2.6% of ARK Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. ARK Investment Management LLC owned approximately 3.34% of Exact Sciences worth $446,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Exact Sciences by 16.5% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,760 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 1st quarter worth $742,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 4.6% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,281 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Exact Sciences by 13.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,640 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $31,377,000 after buying an additional 53,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Exact Sciences by 143.5% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 22,230 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 13,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In related news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 14,791 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $908,611.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,224,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,212,250.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 14,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $908,611.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,224,357 shares in the company, valued at $75,212,250.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 8,271 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.32, for a total transaction of $490,635.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,299,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,086,102.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,992 shares of company stock valued at $4,096,879. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet downgraded Exact Sciences from a "c-" rating to a "d+" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Benchmark upgraded Exact Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Exact Sciences in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.31.

Exact Sciences Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXAS traded up $2.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $69.06. The stock had a trading volume of 5,469,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,031,902. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $61.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.37. Exact Sciences Co. has a 52 week low of $56.05 and a 52 week high of $100.77. The company has a market capitalization of $12.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -61.62 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.26. The company had revenue of $646.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.83 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 8.17% and a negative return on equity of 6.60%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.72) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.92 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.