Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) saw a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,890,000 shares, an increase of 56.0% from the March 31st total of 6,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,390,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXAS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Benchmark upgraded Exact Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.44.

Exact Sciences Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:EXAS traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $58.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,019,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,963,292. Exact Sciences has a 1-year low of $56.05 and a 1-year high of $100.77. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.95.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.26. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 6.60% and a negative net margin of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $646.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $638.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.72) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exact Sciences will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exact Sciences news, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $59,341.38. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $459,987.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $59,341.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,488 shares in the company, valued at $459,987.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Condella sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $140,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 73,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,165,090. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,113 shares of company stock valued at $4,165,273. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 459.5% during the fourth quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 414 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 40.0% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 700 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 29.5% during the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 773 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.