Sentry Investment Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,920 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 459.5% in the 4th quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 414 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Down 8.4 %

Shares of Exact Sciences stock opened at $65.35 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.16. Exact Sciences Co. has a 52 week low of $56.05 and a 52 week high of $100.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.26. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 6.60% and a negative net margin of 8.17%. The business had revenue of $646.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.72) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

In other news, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 966 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $59,341.38. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $459,987.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director D Scott Coward sold 1,376 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $84,527.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,554,259.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $59,341.38. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,488 shares in the company, valued at $459,987.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,113 shares of company stock valued at $4,165,273. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on EXAS. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet lowered Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Benchmark raised Exact Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.44.

About Exact Sciences

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.