Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.94.

EXAS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. 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. Bank of America lowered their target price on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

In other news, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $65,030.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $893,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kevin T. Conroy bought 19,500 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $51.35 per share, with a total value of $1,001,325.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,074,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,159,707.85. The trade was a 1.85 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exact Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Exact Sciences by 838.1% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 394 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Exact Sciences in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Vestor Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the third quarter worth about $47,000. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Trading Up 5.9 %

EXAS opened at $59.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.77 and a beta of 1.24. Exact Sciences has a 52 week low of $40.62 and a 52 week high of $79.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.08.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $708.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 7.95% and a negative return on equity of 6.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Exact Sciences will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current 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.