Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 7,330 Exact Sciences Corporation $EXAS

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth $157,805,000. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 189.5% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,145,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $113,995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,086 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 643.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,286,595 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113,459 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $48,372,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Exact Sciences by 73.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,753,283 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $93,169,000 after buying an additional 741,517 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim lowered Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $105.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exact Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.56.

Insider Activity

In other Exact Sciences news, EVP Brian Baranick sold 2,858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total value of $200,288.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,368 shares in the company, valued at $1,567,549.44. This represents a 11.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jacob A. Orville sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 23,237 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,775. This trade represents a 17.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $102.30 on Friday. Exact Sciences Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.81 and a fifty-two week high of $102.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $101.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.23, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.40.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $810.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.21) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

Exact Sciences Profile

Exact Sciences Corporation is a molecular diagnostics company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, dedicated to the early detection and prevention of cancer. The company’s flagship product, Cologuard®, is a noninvasive, stool-based DNA screening test for colorectal cancer that was developed in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic. By combining DNA mutation analysis with hemoglobin detection, Cologuard aims to improve screening adherence and identify cancers and precancerous lesions in average-risk adults.

Since its founding in 1995, Exact Sciences has expanded its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and internal research and development.