Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) Short Interest Down 5.3% in December

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,200,000 shares, a decline of 5.3% from the November 30th total of 11,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

EXAS stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.19. 798,765 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,575,772. 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 stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.03 and a beta of 1.24. Exact Sciences has a one year low of $40.62 and a one year high of $79.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.08.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $708.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 7.95% and a negative return on equity of 6.17%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Exact Sciences will post -1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on EXAS shares. Craig Hallum cut their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Exact Sciences from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exact Sciences news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy acquired 19,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $51.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,325.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,074,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,159,707.85. This trade represents a 1.85 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $65,030.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $893,060. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.36% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in Exact Sciences by 1.7% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 9,261 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,937 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 838.1% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 394 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 6.2% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,118 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Exact Sciences by 1.4% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,650 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 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.