Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Trading 5.7% Higher - Should You Buy?

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 5.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $44.17 and last traded at $43.94. 1,282,280 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 2,600,964 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXAS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.25.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.19 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.38.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The medical research company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.23. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 37.29% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. The business had revenue of $713.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $701.45 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Exact Sciences Co. will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Exact Sciences by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 241,774 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $13,585,000 after purchasing an additional 36,505 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 95,827 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,385,000 after buying an additional 24,992 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,508 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 2,315 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $478,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 13,625 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company's stock.

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.