Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Trading 5% Higher – What’s Next?

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) rose 5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $53.85 and last traded at $54.32. Approximately 128,097 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 2,559,165 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EXAS. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Craig Hallum reduced their price objective on Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Exact Sciences from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.94.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.61 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.32.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $708.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 6.17% and a negative net margin of 7.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $51.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,325.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,074,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,159,707.85. This represents a 1.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Exact Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

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.