Baillie Gifford & Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its position in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,426,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 275,371 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.77% of Exact Sciences worth $60,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 65.6% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 92.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 708 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the first quarter worth $55,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Exact Sciences by 48.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EXAS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Exact Sciences from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Exact Sciences in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $91.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.77.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

Exact Sciences stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,690,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,648,380. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.45. Exact Sciences Co. has a 12-month low of $40.62 and a 12-month high of $85.71. The company has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.23 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.36.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical research company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.28. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 4.97% and a negative net margin of 6.70%. The business had revenue of $699.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $690.02 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.45) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.17 EPS for the current year.

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.