Axa S.A. Sells 14,061,558 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Axa S.A. trimmed its position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 95.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 614,952 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 14,061,558 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $25,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Exact Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 65.6% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 92.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In related news, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of the business’s 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.14.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

EXAS stock opened at $67.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.47 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Exact Sciences Co. has a 12-month low of $40.62 and a 12-month high of $79.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.12.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical research company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.28. The business had revenue of $699.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $690.02 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 6.70% and a negative return on equity of 4.97%. Exact Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.45) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.87 earnings per share 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.