Gagnon Securities LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Key Points

• Gagnon Securities LLC increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 9.9%, owning a total of 270,664 shares worth approximately $11.7 million.
• Wall Street analysts are generally positive about Exact Sciences, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.50.
• Exact Sciences reported a revenue increase of 16.0% year-over-year, generating $811.09 million in the most recent quarter, despite having a negative net margin of 36.06%.

Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 270,664 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,460 shares during the quarter. Exact Sciences comprises about 2.6% of Gagnon Securities LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Gagnon Securities LLC owned about 0.14% of Exact Sciences worth $11,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 4.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,391,599 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $60,242,000 after acquiring an additional 60,660 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at $654,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,637,674 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $763,535,000 after acquiring an additional 617,384 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 10.2% in the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 80,188 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empire Life Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 21.1% in the first quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 293,878 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $12,722,000 after purchasing an additional 51,113 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXAS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Two equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exact Sciences presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exact Sciences news, Director Katherine S. Zanotti sold 3,207 shares of the business'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 transaction, the director owned 72,759 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

Shares of EXAS opened at $46.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.51, a PEG ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.14 and a 200-day moving average of $50.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Exact Sciences Corporation has a 52 week low of $39.97 and a 52 week high of $72.83.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $811.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $774.43 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 3.75% and a negative net margin of 36.06%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Corporation will post -0.58 EPS for the current 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.

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