ARK Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

ARK Investment Management LLC cut its position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,032,893 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 248,038 shares during the quarter. Exact Sciences comprises 2.6% of ARK Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $446,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Exact Sciences by 172.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 328,317 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,398,000 after purchasing an additional 207,623 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Exact Sciences by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,858 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,961,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $270,254,000 after buying an additional 418,770 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 103.6% during the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 20,092 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 10,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC raised its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 383.0% during the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 107,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,303,000 after buying an additional 84,888 shares in the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of EXAS opened at $66.88 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $61.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Exact Sciences Co. has a 1-year low of $56.05 and a 1-year high of $100.77.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $646.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $638.83 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 8.17% and a negative return on equity of 6.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.72) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EXAS shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. TheStreet lowered shares of Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Benchmark raised shares of Exact Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.31.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In related news, insider Brian Baranick sold 879 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $64,606.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $587,412. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Exact Sciences news, insider Brian Baranick sold 879 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $64,606.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $587,412. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 2,154 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.32, for a total transaction of $127,775.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,699.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,992 shares of company stock valued at $4,096,879 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.