Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) Short Interest Down 22.4% in August

Key Points

• Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) experienced a significant 22.4% drop in short interest in August, with total short interest falling to 7,340,000 shares.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for EXAS, with Barclays lowering it from $65.00 to $55.00 while Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from "hold" to "buy."
• The company's most recent earnings report showed a profit of $0.22 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting a 16% year-over-year revenue increase to $811.09 million.

Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 7,340,000 shares, a decline of 22.4% from the August 15th total of 9,460,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 3.9% of the company's stock are sold short. Currently, 3.9% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Exact Sciences from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Exact Sciences from $61.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Exact Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum upped their target price on Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exact Sciences has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exact Sciences

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Exact Sciences by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,637,674 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $763,535,000 after buying an additional 617,384 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Exact Sciences by 11.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,403,872 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $277,225,000 after buying an additional 643,631 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Exact Sciences by 12.4% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,281,639 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $142,062,000 after buying an additional 362,314 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Exact Sciences by 120.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,128,958 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $135,453,000 after buying an additional 1,707,287 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $157,805,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Exact Sciences Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ EXAS traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.32. 3,098,095 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,630,643. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.82, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.89. Exact Sciences has a 52-week low of $38.81 and a 52-week high of $72.83. The company's 50-day moving average is $48.85 and its 200-day moving average is $49.46.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.24. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 1.75% and a negative net margin of 34.19%.The company had revenue of $811.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $774.43 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. Exact Sciences's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Exact Sciences will post -0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.