Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 19.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,049,256 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 254,631 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Exact Sciences worth $71,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 838.1% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 394 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC purchased a new position in Exact Sciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $51.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,325.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,074,191 shares in the company, valued at $55,159,707.85. This trade represents a 1.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $65,030.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,758 shares in the company, valued at $893,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of EXAS stock opened at $59.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.12. Exact Sciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $40.62 and a fifty-two week high of $79.62. The company has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.77 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.18.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $708.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 7.95% and a negative return on equity of 6.17%. Exact Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EXAS shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.94.

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.