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

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

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $56.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.03 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.07. Exact Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $40.62 and a fifty-two week high of $79.62.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXAS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Benchmark cut their target price on Exact Sciences from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $95.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Craig Hallum decreased 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EXAS. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth $163,896,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,105,970 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $211,104,000 after purchasing an additional 7,873 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Exact Sciences by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,494,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $169,924,000 after buying an additional 245,980 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG raised its position in Exact Sciences by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,449,465 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $98,738,000 after buying an additional 290,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 91.6% during the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,400,086 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $59,154,000 after acquiring an additional 669,438 shares during the period. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.