Benchmark Reiterates "Buy" Rating for Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by investment analysts at Benchmark in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $65.00 price target on the medical research company's stock. Benchmark's target price indicates a potential upside of 11.09% from the company's current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Exact Sciences from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Exact Sciences presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.94.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Exact Sciences stock traded up $2.01 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $58.51. 2,969,365 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,089,950. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $57.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.98. Exact Sciences has a 12-month low of $40.62 and a 12-month high of $79.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -50.01 and a beta of 1.24.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $716.80 million. The business's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Exact Sciences will post -1.13 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $51.35 per share, with a total value of $1,001,325.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,074,191 shares in the company, valued at $55,159,707.85. The trade was a 1.85 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth $160,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 907.7% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,237 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 2,015 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 5.0% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,547 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA grew its stake in Exact Sciences by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 26,213 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 3,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in Exact Sciences by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 59,891 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares during the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.