Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 5,664 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $3,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on EXAS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America lowered their price target on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.94.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

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

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

EXAS opened at $61.25 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.34 billion, a PE ratio of -52.35 and a beta of 1.24. Exact Sciences Co. has a 52-week low of $40.62 and a 52-week high of $79.62.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $708.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.