Heritage Investors Management Corp Sells 12,098 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Heritage Investors Management Corp decreased its holdings in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,048 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 12,098 shares during the period. Heritage Investors Management Corp owned 0.05% of Exact Sciences worth $7,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 172.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 328,317 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,398,000 after buying an additional 207,623 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,858 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,961,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $270,254,000 after purchasing an additional 418,770 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 21,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 383.0% in the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 107,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,303,000 after purchasing an additional 84,888 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Down 9.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS traded down $5.33 on Thursday, hitting $54.15. 10,594,496 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,383,032. The company has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of -48.03 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.66. Exact Sciences Co. has a 52 week low of $52.25 and a 52 week high of $100.77. 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 quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $646.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $638.83 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 8.17% and a negative return on equity of 6.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.72) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Exact Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. BTIG Research lowered their price target on Exact Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Exact Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.40.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In related news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 14,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $908,611.13. Following the completion of the sale, 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $59,341.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,987.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 14,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,224,357 shares in the company, valued at $75,212,250.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,611 shares of company stock worth $4,255,377 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.