Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $232,000 in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,136 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Exact Sciences by 172.0% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 328,317 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,398,000 after purchasing an additional 207,623 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,858 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 21,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,961,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $270,254,000 after buying an additional 418,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its position in Exact Sciences by 383.0% in the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 107,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,303,000 after buying an additional 84,888 shares during the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Trading Down 9.0 %

NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $54.15 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.58. The stock has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.50 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Exact Sciences Co. has a 12 month low of $52.25 and a 12 month high of $100.77.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Exact Sciences’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.72) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Exact Sciences news, EVP Sarah Condella sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $140,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 73,787 shares in the company, valued at $5,165,090. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Exact Sciences news, EVP Sarah Condella sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $140,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 73,787 shares in the company, valued at $5,165,090. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 1,155 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.15, for a total transaction of $69,473.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,156,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,544,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,611 shares of company stock worth $4,255,377 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on EXAS shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. TheStreet downgraded Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their target price on Exact Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.40.

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.