Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 4,609 Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Free Report) by 110.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,799 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,609 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 22,825.0% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 917 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Ostrum Asset Management raised its stake in Exact Sciences by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Ostrum Asset Management now owns 2,382 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXAS traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.52. 1,266,159 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,600,440. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $50.99 and a 200 day moving average of $52.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.61 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.15. Exact Sciences Co. has a 1 year low of $39.97 and a 1 year high of $72.83.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $706.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.58 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 37.29%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.60) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.90.

Exact Sciences 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.