Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,890,000 shares, a growth of 56.0% from the March 31st total of 6,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exact Sciences

In other Exact Sciences news, EVP Sarah Condella sold 965 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $59,279.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 70,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,330,139.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 8,271 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.32, for a total transaction of $490,635.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,299,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,086,102.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Condella sold 965 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $59,279.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 70,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,330,139.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,113 shares of company stock worth $4,165,273. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 10.4% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 12,699 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 3.8% in the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 56,788 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,922,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 37.5% in the first quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 26,914 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,859,000 after acquiring an additional 7,340 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 7.2% in the first quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,868 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 4.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 18,637 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Exact Sciences stock traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $58.85. The company had a trading volume of 2,019,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,963,292. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.62 and a beta of 1.25. Exact Sciences has a 1 year low of $56.05 and a 1 year high of $100.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.44 and a 200-day moving average of $64.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $646.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.83 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 6.60% and a negative net margin of 8.17%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.72) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exact Sciences will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on EXAS. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Benchmark upgraded Exact Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Exact Sciences from a "c-" rating to a "d+" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.44.

About Exact Sciences

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.