Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Gap Up to $41.37

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $41.37, but opened at $43.41. Exact Sciences shares last traded at $43.60, with a volume of 1,118,655 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EXAS shares. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Exact Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Exact Sciences in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research reduced their price target on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.86.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.70 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.78 and its 200 day moving average is $60.41.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50). The company had revenue of $637.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $624.95 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 7.12% and a negative net margin of 9.48%. As a group, analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exact Sciences news, EVP Sarah Condella sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $140,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,787 shares in the company, valued at $5,025,090. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 1,155 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.15, for a total value of $69,473.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,156,191 shares in the company, valued at $69,544,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Condella sold 2,000 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $140,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,025,090. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,498 shares of company stock valued at $230,105. 1.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,740,092 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,225,131,000 after purchasing an additional 180,341 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Exact Sciences by 74.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,025,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $899,528,000 after buying an additional 5,557,168 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,470,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $330,711,000 after acquiring an additional 508,764 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 175.3% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,258,235 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $155,954,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,858,380 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $137,483,000 after acquiring an additional 192,372 shares during the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.