Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 19.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,049,256 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 254,631 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $71,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 838.1% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 394 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Exact Sciences during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC bought a new stake in Exact Sciences during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. 88.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $59.40 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.77 and a beta of 1.24. Exact Sciences Co. has a 52 week low of $40.62 and a 52 week high of $79.62.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $708.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 6.17% and a negative net margin of 7.95%. Exact Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In other news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $51.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,074,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,159,707.85. The trade was a 1.85 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $65,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $893,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EXAS. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Craig Hallum lowered their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark cut their price target on Exact Sciences from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.94.

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.