Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Down 4.3% – Should You Sell?

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) was down 4.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $55.92 and last traded at $56.01. Approximately 652,498 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 1,890,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EXAS. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price 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. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target 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 analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.94.

Exact Sciences Stock Down 7.9 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.98. The company has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.07 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

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). 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. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 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 in the company, valued at approximately $55,159,707.85. This trade represents a 1.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 838.1% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 394 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Vestor Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the third quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

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.