DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 43,006 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 226,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,006 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $12,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,436 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Exact Sciences by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 13,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Exact Sciences by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,447 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its position in Exact Sciences by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 26,153 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in Exact Sciences by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 39,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,208,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Stock Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ EXAS opened at $43.66 on Friday. Exact Sciences Co. has a 1 year low of $40.62 and a 1 year high of $79.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a PE ratio of -7.84 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.71 and its 200 day moving average is $57.80.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $713.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $701.45 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 37.29%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXAS has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.26.

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.