Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Gap Up Following 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 changing hands.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on EXAS. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Exact Sciences from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.29.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In related news, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $65,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $893,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $51.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,074,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,159,707.85. The trade was a 1.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in Exact Sciences by 1.7% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 9,261 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Exact Sciences by 2.7% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,937 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Exact Sciences by 92.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Exact Sciences by 838.1% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 394 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,118 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the period. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Stock Up 2.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of -51.73 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $64.35 and its 200-day moving average is $55.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.12.

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

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.