Is EXACT Sciences Corporation (EXAS) a Good Stock to Buy?

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Antipodean Advisors, led by Eric Chen, initiated the most valuable position in EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS). Antipodean Advisors had $14 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Kris Jenner, Gordon Bussard, Graham McPhail’s Rock Springs Capital Management also initiated a $8.1 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new EXAS positions are Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management, and Principal Global Investors’s Columbus Circle Investors.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) but similarly valued. These stocks are Universal Forest Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI), WPP PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:WPPGY), Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR), and Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI). This group of stocks’ market values resemble EXAS’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 15 investors with long positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $112 million, versus $251 million in EXAS’s case. Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand WPP PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:WPPGY) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.

Disclosure: none