Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Stock Price Up 4.5% - Here's Why

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXAS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Exact Sciences from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.40.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $52.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.35. The company has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 40.73 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 3.75% and a negative net margin of 36.06%. The company had revenue of $706.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.58 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.60) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

In other news, Director Katherine S. Zanotti sold 3,207 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.20, for a total value of $170,612.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 72,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,870,778.80. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the 1st quarter worth about $145,000. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,398,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Exact Sciences by 1.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 221,301 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $9,580,000 after acquiring an additional 3,873 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Exact Sciences by 12.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,548 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 2,413 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its stake in Exact Sciences by 95.8% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 926 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.