The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 35,927 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 136,592 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,927 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.07% of Exact Sciences worth $9,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,147 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $964,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 193.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,329 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 10,772 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,494,480 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $169,924,000 after buying an additional 245,980 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Exact Sciences by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,292,090 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $88,017,000 after purchasing an additional 45,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 26,491 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,805,000 after buying an additional 2,265 shares during the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

EXAS stock traded up $3.58 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.14. 2,630,573 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,647,741. Exact Sciences Co. has a one year low of $40.62 and a one year high of $79.62. The stock has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.03 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $708.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of Exact Sciences 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,758 shares in the company, valued at $893,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kevin T. Conroy purchased 19,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $51.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,325.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,074,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,159,707.85. This represents a 1.85 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EXAS. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Craig Hallum decreased their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.29.

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.