Empire Life Investments Inc. Decreases Holdings in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Empire Life Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 242,765 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,933 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc. owned 0.13% of Exact Sciences worth $13,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 241,774 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,585,000 after buying an additional 36,505 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 1,153.2% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 187,807 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,388,000 after buying an additional 172,821 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,277 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,994,000 after buying an additional 11,800 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,083,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 335,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,868,000 after buying an additional 125,192 shares during the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on EXAS. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective 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. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.76.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $49.31 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $56.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.09. Exact Sciences Co. has a 52 week low of $40.62 and a 52 week high of $79.62. 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 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.