Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $86.00. The stock had previously closed at $55.14, but opened at $60.30. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Exact Sciences shares last traded at $59.31, with a volume of 519,111 shares trading hands.

EXAS has been the topic of a number of other reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Exact Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.29.

Insider Activity

In other Exact Sciences news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy purchased 19,500 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,074,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,159,707.85. This trade represents a 1.85 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $65,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $893,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exact Sciences

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 15.9% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,829 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter worth about $570,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences during the first quarter worth about $2,819,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 3,314.8% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 11,747 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 11,403 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of -51.73 and a beta of 1.27.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.01). Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 6.17% and a negative net margin of 7.95%. The firm had revenue of $708.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.13 EPS for the current year.

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.