Craig Hallum Raises Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Price Target to $85.00

Key Points

• Craig Hallum has raised its target price for Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) from $65.00 to $85.00, indicating a potential upside of 52.85% from its current price and maintaining a "buy" rating on the stock.
• Despite the positive forecast from Craig Hallum, other analysts have lowered their price targets, with BTIG Research decreasing from $65.00 to $60.00, reflecting a mixed sentiment among analysts.
• Exact Sciences reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.22, exceeding analyst expectations and achieving revenue of $811.09 million, which was also above projections.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Craig Hallum from $65.00 to $85.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the medical research company's stock. Craig Hallum's price objective suggests a potential upside of 60.56% from the stock's current price.

EXAS has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Exact Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on Exact Sciences from $61.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Exact Sciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Exact Sciences from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.05.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXAS traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $52.94. 2,082,928 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,802,795. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.34. Exact Sciences has a 52 week low of $38.81 and a 52 week high of $72.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.05.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.24. The company had revenue of $811.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $774.43 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 1.75% and a negative net margin of 34.19%.Exact Sciences's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exact Sciences will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In other news, Director James Edward Doyle sold 1,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.02, for a total value of $62,399.70. Following the sale, the director owned 59,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,519,603.24. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Exact Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 463.0% in the 2nd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,216 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Marex Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth $341,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 68.6% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 28.9% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 16,737 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 3,748 shares during the period. 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.