Lisanti Capital Growth LLC Trims Stake in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC cut its stake in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) by 45.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,280 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 9,440 shares during the quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC’s holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,961,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $270,254,000 after acquiring an additional 418,770 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 11.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 94.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,360,917 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $100,681,000 after acquiring an additional 659,235 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,128,376 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $76,978,000 after acquiring an additional 57,423 shares during the period. Finally, Rock Springs Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rock Springs Capital Management LP now owns 1,018,250 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $69,465,000 after acquiring an additional 74,750 shares during the period. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 14,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $908,611.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,224,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,212,250.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 14,791 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 $908,611.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,224,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,212,250.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director D Scott Coward sold 1,376 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $84,527.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,554,259.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,611 shares of company stock valued at $4,255,377 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exact Sciences Stock Down 3.1 %

EXAS traded down $1.94 on Tuesday, reaching $61.41. 1,933,961 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,273,959. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.71. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $56.05 and a fifty-two week high of $100.77.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EXAS shares. TheStreet downgraded Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.07.

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.