Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Up 3.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 3.6% during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $75.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Exact Sciences traded as high as $53.87 and last traded at $53.43. Approximately 587,969 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 2,629,858 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.55.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 2,804.8% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 610 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 22,825.0% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 917 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Exact Sciences Trading Down 1.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of -9.56 and a beta of 0.92. The company's fifty day moving average price is $45.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $706.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $688.58 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 37.29%. Exact Sciences's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.60) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.58 earnings per share 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.