Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $56.50, but opened at $58.55. Exact Sciences shares last traded at $57.89, with a volume of 179,513 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $67.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.94.

Exact Sciences Trading Down 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The company has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.74 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.07.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $708.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 7.95% and a negative return on equity of 6.17%. The business's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences Co. will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $51.35 per share, with a total value of $1,001,325.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,074,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,159,707.85. This trade represents a 1.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $160,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position 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 valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,547 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Exact Sciences by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 59,891 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,680,000 after buying an additional 1,775 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Exact Sciences by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,002,784 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $42,389,000 after buying an additional 108,296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

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.