DnB Asset Management AS Has $12.75 Million Stock Position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 226,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,006 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS owned about 0.12% of Exact Sciences worth $12,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 69,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $50,625,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new position in Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $346,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 139,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,958,000 after buying an additional 16,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,624,000. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $43.66 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.80. Exact Sciences Co. has a twelve month low of $40.62 and a twelve month high of $79.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a PE ratio of -7.84 and a beta of 1.25.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.23. The business had revenue of $713.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $701.45 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 37.29% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. Equities analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EXAS shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Guggenheim set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Exact Sciences and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.26.

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.