Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Trading Down 4.5% – Time to Sell?

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) traded down 4.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $52.11 and last traded at $52.32. 157,527 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 2,568,323 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.79.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EXAS shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Exact Sciences from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.76.

Exact Sciences Stock Down 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.36 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.35. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $708.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exact Sciences

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 838.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the third quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC bought a new stake in Exact Sciences in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. 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.