EXACT Sciences (EXAS) Shares Up 6.4%

EXACT Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) shares shot up 6.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $91.32 and last traded at $90.85. 2,469,509 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 32% from the average session volume of 1,869,766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.37.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EXAS. Zacks Investment Research downgraded EXACT Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Goldman Sachs Group raised EXACT Sciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 26th. UBS Group set a $109.00 price target on EXACT Sciences and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 22nd. BidaskClub downgraded EXACT Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 23rd. Finally, Craig Hallum set a $95.00 price target on EXACT Sciences and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. EXACT Sciences has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.64.

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The company has a quick ratio of 11.72, a current ratio of 12.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.70 and a beta of 1.83.

EXACT Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $142.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.00 million. EXACT Sciences had a negative return on equity of 23.29% and a negative net margin of 38.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. Research analysts predict that EXACT Sciences Co. will post -1.85 EPS for the current year.

In related news, insider D Scott Coward sold 1,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.75, for a total transaction of $99,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,544 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,136. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Scott C. Johnson sold 1,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.20, for a total value of $108,671.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 445,896 shares of company stock valued at $36,518,057. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EXACT Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $260,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EXACT Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $720,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of EXACT Sciences by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,087 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $828,509,000 after purchasing an additional 261,239 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of EXACT Sciences by 602.9% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Biondo Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of EXACT Sciences by 37.6% during the third quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 153,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,131,000 after purchasing an additional 41,965 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.37% of the company’s stock.

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EXACT Sciences Company Profile (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Exact Sciences Corporation, a molecular diagnostics company, focuses on developing products for the early detection and prevention of various cancers in the United States. The company offers Cologuard, a non-invasive stool-based DNA screening test for the early detection of colorectal cancer and pre-cancer.

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