Westpac Banking Corp Reduces Stock Position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,631 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,037,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Exact Sciences by 17.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,487,009 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $383,652,000 after buying an additional 804,159 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Exact Sciences by 4.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,676,611 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $541,823,000 after buying an additional 698,740 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Exact Sciences by 68.1% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,532,063 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $143,861,000 after acquiring an additional 620,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 23.8% in the first quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,687,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $182,228,000 after acquiring an additional 516,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXAS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Exact Sciences from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Exact Sciences from $99.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Exact Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exact Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.56.

Exact Sciences Stock Up 8.4 %

Exact Sciences stock opened at $66.30 on Friday. Exact Sciences Co. has a twelve month low of $40.73 and a twelve month high of $100.77. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.57. The firm has a market cap of $11.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.70 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exact Sciences news, insider Everett Cunningham sold 13,007 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.49, for a total value of $864,835.43. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,909 shares in the company, valued at $2,520,569.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Jeffrey Thomas Elliott sold 30,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.92, for a total transaction of $2,505,013.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Everett Cunningham sold 13,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.49, for a total value of $864,835.43. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,909 shares in the company, valued at $2,520,569.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exact Sciences 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.