Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $56.50, but opened at $58.55. Exact Sciences shares last traded at $57.89, with a volume of 179,513 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.94.

Exact Sciences Trading Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a PE ratio of -47.93 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.82 and a 200-day moving average of $58.88.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $708.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 6.17% and a negative net margin of 7.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exact Sciences

In related news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $51.35 per share, with a total value of $1,001,325.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,074,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,159,707.85. The trade was a 1.85 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exact Sciences

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Exact Sciences by 1,153.2% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 187,807 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,388,000 after acquiring an additional 172,821 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,277 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after purchasing an additional 11,800 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,083,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Exact Sciences by 59.5% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 335,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,868,000 after purchasing an additional 125,192 shares during the period. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Exact Sciences by 239.8% in the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 78,589 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,320,000 after buying an additional 55,459 shares during the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is owned by 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.