Nomura Holdings Inc. Boosts Position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,536 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,974 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,559,751 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,299,070,000 after purchasing an additional 115,058 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,468,145 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $552,493,000 after acquiring an additional 539,498 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,470,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $330,711,000 after acquiring an additional 508,764 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,858,380 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $137,483,000 after acquiring an additional 192,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $120,308,000. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $41.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a PE ratio of -31.76 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.28. Exact Sciences Co. has a 12 month low of $41.08 and a 12 month high of $100.77.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 1,155 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.15, for a total value of $69,473.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,156,191 shares in the company, valued at $69,544,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 1,155 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.15, for a total value of $69,473.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,156,191 shares in the company, valued at $69,544,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Condella sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $140,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,025,090. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,498 shares of company stock worth $370,105 over the last three months. 1.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Exact Sciences in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. TheStreet downgraded Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. BTIG Research reduced their price objective on Exact Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Exact Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.07.

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.