Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 2,065,067 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 54.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,701,988 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,065,067 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $117,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. boosted its stake in Exact Sciences by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 4,390 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 65.6% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Exact Sciences by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 848 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Morris Harris LLC lifted its stake in Exact Sciences by 4.2% during the first quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXAS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research dropped their target price on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.80.

Insider Activity

In other Exact Sciences news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 1,155 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.15, for a total transaction of $69,473.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,156,191 shares in the company, valued at $69,544,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,498 shares of company stock valued at $90,105 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Trading Up 3.2 %

EXAS traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.57. 1,618,958 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,821,357. Exact Sciences Co. has a one year low of $40.62 and a one year high of $100.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.50). Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 9.48% and a negative return on equity of 7.12%. The business had revenue of $637.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $624.95 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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.