Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Acquires 262 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 40.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 903 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $67,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EXAS. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,760 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Exact Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at about $742,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Exact Sciences by 4.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Exact Sciences by 13.5% in 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 buying an additional 53,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Exact Sciences by 143.5% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 22,230 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 13,102 shares in the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

In other news, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 1,879 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.89, for a total value of $106,896.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $668,685.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related 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 value of $908,611.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,224,357 shares in the company, valued at $75,212,250.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 1,879 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.89, for a total value of $106,896.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $668,685.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,113 shares of company stock worth $4,165,273 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXAS opened at $60.96 on Friday. Exact Sciences Co. has a twelve month low of $56.05 and a twelve month high of $100.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.06. The company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a PE ratio of -53.47 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.26. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 6.60% and a negative net margin of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $646.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.72) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on EXAS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. TheStreet lowered Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Benchmark raised Exact Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.44.

Exact Sciences Company 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.