Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Exact Sciences from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment toward the company's stock.
• Multiple analysts have revised their price targets for Exact Sciences, with estimates ranging from $46.00 to $60.00, while the consensus price target remains $67.05.
• Exact Sciences reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.22, beating expectations and showing a 16% year-over-year revenue increase.

Zacks Research cut shares of Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday, September 4th,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on EXAS. Wall Street Zen upgraded Exact Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $61.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exact Sciences currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.05.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Exact Sciences stock traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $55.58. 1,011,714 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,802,427. Exact Sciences has a 12 month low of $38.81 and a 12 month high of $72.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.22. The company has a market capitalization of $10.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 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 (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $811.09 million during 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 revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James Edward Doyle sold 1,485 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,519,603.24. This represents a 2.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Katherine S. Zanotti sold 3,207 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.20, for a total value of $170,612.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 72,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,870,778.80. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXAS. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $157,805,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 120.1% during the 1st 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 valued at $135,453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707,287 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 107.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,919,325 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $164,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513,873 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 189.5% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,145,181 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $113,995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,086 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter worth $45,334,000. 88.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.