Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 254,631 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 19.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,049,256 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 254,631 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Exact Sciences worth $71,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Vestor Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences during the third quarter worth about $47,000. 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 purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exact Sciences

In related news, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $65,030.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,687 shares in the company, valued at $958,090. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.36% of the company's stock.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXAS traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.48. The company had a trading volume of 4,689,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,310,664. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $66.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.46. Exact Sciences Co. has a 52-week low of $40.62 and a 52-week high of $79.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a PE ratio of -44.00 and a beta of 1.27.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $708.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 7.95% and a negative return on equity of 6.17%. The company's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXAS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Craig Hallum reduced their price target on Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BTIG Research cut their target price on Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.06.

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.