Natixis Advisors L.P. Raises Stock Position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,632 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,185 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $5,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Exact Sciences by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,760 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Exact Sciences during the 1st quarter valued at $742,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Exact Sciences by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,281 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Exact Sciences by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,377,000 after purchasing an additional 53,454 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 143.5% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 22,230 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,585,000 after buying an additional 13,102 shares during the period. 89.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EXAS. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Friday, May 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Craig Hallum upped their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $85.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 22nd. Benchmark downgraded shares of Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exact Sciences

In other news, General Counsel James Herriott sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $130,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 5,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,400. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel James Herriott sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $130,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 5,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,400. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James Edward Doyle sold 1,402 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.51, for a total transaction of $126,895.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,897,496.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,562 shares of company stock worth $3,188,552. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

EXAS opened at $82.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.08 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.29. Exact Sciences Co. has a 52-week low of $29.27 and a 52-week high of $100.77.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The medical research company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $622.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $601.14 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 18.76% and a negative return on equity of 14.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.94) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.9 EPS for the current year.

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.