Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Leerink Partnrs

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) was downgraded by equities researchers at Leerink Partnrs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on EXAS. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $105.00 target price (up from $77.00) on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.38.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of EXAS stock opened at $100.90 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.44. The company has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.34. Exact Sciences has a 12-month low of $38.81 and a 12-month high of $101.87.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.11. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 1.75% and a negative net margin of 34.19%.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 business earned ($0.21) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Exact Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exact Sciences will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exact Sciences news, EVP Jacob A. Orville sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $375,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,775. This trade represents a 17.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James Edward Doyle sold 2,000 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 57,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,477,720. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,858 shares of company stock worth $695,289. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exact Sciences

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Exact Sciences by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 542 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 1,980.6% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in Exact Sciences by 75.1% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 681 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.