Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Up 4.5% - Here's What Happened

Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 4.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $52.19 and last traded at $54.13. 805,942 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 2,603,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXAS has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Exact Sciences from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.40.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.86, a PEG ratio of 39.42 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.57.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.16. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 36.06% and a negative return on equity of 3.75%. The business had revenue of $706.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.60) earnings per share. Exact Sciences's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In related news, Director Katherine S. Zanotti sold 3,207 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.20, for a total transaction of $170,612.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 72,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,870,778.80. The trade was a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EXAS. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 2,804.8% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 610 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 75.1% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 681 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter worth $34,000. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.