First Trust Advisors LP Trims Stake in Exact Sciences Corporation $EXAS

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in shares of Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 729,930 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 18,983 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.39% of Exact Sciences worth $38,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Exact Sciences by 75.1% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 681 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 951.8% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 589 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank purchased a new position in Exact Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Exact Sciences by 1,980.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXAS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum lowered shares of Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Exact Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up previously from $77.00) on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Exact Sciences Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $101.25 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 2.72. Exact Sciences Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.81 and a fifty-two week high of $101.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 1.42.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.11. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 32.01% and a positive return on equity of 1.67%. The company had revenue of $850.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $810.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.21) earnings per share. Exact Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

In other Exact Sciences news, EVP Jacob A. Orville sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,775. This trade represents a 17.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Baranick sold 2,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total value of $200,288.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,368 shares in the company, valued at $1,567,549.44. The trade was a 11.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,858 shares of company stock valued at $695,289 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.