Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Gap Up to $63.86

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $63.86, but opened at $65.62. Exact Sciences shares last traded at $64.78, with a volume of 252,393 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EXAS. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Benchmark upgraded Exact Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.44.

Exact Sciences Trading Up 1.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $63.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.13.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Exact Sciences

In other Exact Sciences news, Director D Scott Coward sold 1,376 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $84,527.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,554,259.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director D Scott Coward sold 1,376 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 transaction of $84,527.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,580 shares in the company, valued at $2,554,259.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Condella sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $140,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 73,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,165,090. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,113 shares of company stock valued at $4,165,273. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXAS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 4th quarter worth about $120,308,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,487,009 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $383,652,000 after buying an additional 804,159 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,676,611 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $541,823,000 after buying an additional 698,740 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 94.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,360,917 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $100,681,000 after buying an additional 659,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,470,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $330,711,000 after buying an additional 508,764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

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.