Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $71.48 Million Stock Position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 19.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXAS. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 1,153.2% during the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 187,807 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $12,388,000 after buying an additional 172,821 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Exact Sciences by 67.5% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,277 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 11,800 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in Exact Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,083,000. Profund Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 239.8% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 78,589 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 55,459 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 59.5% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 335,705 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $22,868,000 after purchasing an additional 125,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXAS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Exact Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $67.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.94.

Exact Sciences Trading Up 5.9 %

Exact Sciences stock traded up $3.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $59.40. The stock had a trading volume of 3,273,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,615,913. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a PE ratio of -50.77 and a beta of 1.24. Exact Sciences Co. has a 12 month low of $40.62 and a 12 month high of $79.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.27.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.01). Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 7.95% and a negative return on equity of 6.17%. The business had revenue of $708.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.80 million. The firm's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exact Sciences

In other Exact Sciences news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $51.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,325.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,074,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,159,707.85. This trade represents a 1.85 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $65,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $893,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.36% 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.