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

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,200,000 shares, a drop of 5.3% from the November 30th total of 11,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $65,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $893,060. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $51.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,074,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,159,707.85. This trade represents a 1.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $163,896,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,105,970 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $211,104,000 after purchasing an additional 7,873 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 10.9% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,494,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $169,924,000 after purchasing an additional 245,980 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 25.1% during the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,449,465 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $98,738,000 after purchasing an additional 290,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 91.6% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,400,086 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $59,154,000 after purchasing an additional 669,438 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXAS traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.19. The company had a trading volume of 798,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,575,772. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.03 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.93. Exact Sciences has a 12 month low of $40.62 and a 12 month high of $79.62.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.01). Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 7.95% and a negative return on equity of 6.17%. The company had revenue of $708.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.80 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Exact Sciences will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EXAS shares. Craig Hallum lowered their target price on Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.94.

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.