Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $65.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.48, but opened at $48.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Exact Sciences shares last traded at $47.98, with a volume of 1,127,056 shares traded.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on EXAS. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BTIG Research increased their price target 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Exact Sciences from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.06.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Exact Sciences by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 241,774 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $13,585,000 after buying an additional 36,505 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 172,821 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. raised 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 period. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,083,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $22,868,000 after purchasing an additional 125,192 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $54.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.84 and a beta of 1.24.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.23. The business had revenue of $713.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $701.45 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 4.97% and a negative net margin of 37.29%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.59 EPS for the current year.

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.