Exact Sciences Corporation $EXAS Stake Boosted by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 26.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,555,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 534,881 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $139,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EXAS. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the second quarter worth approximately $157,805,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Exact Sciences by 189.5% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,145,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $113,995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,086 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Exact Sciences by 643.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,286,595 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113,459 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,372,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 73.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,753,283 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $93,169,000 after purchasing an additional 741,517 shares in the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EXAS shares. Piper Sandler downgraded Exact Sciences from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Friday, November 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Exact Sciences and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $92.13.

Exact Sciences Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ EXAS opened at $103.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.84. Exact Sciences Corporation has a 52 week low of $38.81 and a 52 week high of $103.67. The stock has a market cap of $19.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -93.98, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a current ratio of 2.43.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.29). Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 6.40% and a positive return on equity of 0.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.06) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exact Sciences Company Profile

Exact Sciences Corporation is a molecular diagnostics company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, dedicated to the early detection and prevention of cancer. The company’s flagship product, Cologuard®, is a noninvasive, stool-based DNA screening test for colorectal cancer that was developed in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic. By combining DNA mutation analysis with hemoglobin detection, Cologuard aims to improve screening adherence and identify cancers and precancerous lesions in average-risk adults.

Since its founding in 1995, Exact Sciences has expanded its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and internal research and development.