Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 808,515 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 240,741 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.44% of Exact Sciences worth $45,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 838.1% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 394 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EXAS shares. Craig Hallum reduced their target price on Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.06.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $49.26. 3,339,540 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,338,169. The company has a market cap of $9.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.84 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $55.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.93. Exact Sciences Co. has a 52-week low of $40.62 and a 52-week high of $79.62.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $713.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $701.45 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 37.29% and a negative return on equity of 4.97%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.59 EPS for the current year.

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.