Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Trading 8.1% Higher After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS)’s stock price traded up 8.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $72.45 and last traded at $72.3850. 2,178,524 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 2,710,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.98.

The medical research company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.11. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 34.19% and a negative return on equity of 1.75%. The firm had revenue of $850.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $810.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.21) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. Exact Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $61.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.65.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

In other Exact Sciences news, Director James Edward Doyle sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 57,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,477,720. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXAS. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Exact Sciences by 951.8% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 589 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Exact Sciences by 2,804.8% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 610 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Exact Sciences by 1,980.6% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 645 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in Exact Sciences by 75.1% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 681 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exact Sciences Trading Up 7.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.33, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.38 and its 200-day moving average is $52.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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.