Principal Securities Inc. Sells 1,772 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Principal Securities Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,772 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Exact Sciences by 838.1% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 394 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 88.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of EXAS opened at $49.26 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $54.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.84 and a beta of 1.24. Exact Sciences Co. has a 12-month low of $40.62 and a 12-month high of $79.62.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EXAS shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.06.

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.