Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) has been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.50.

EXAS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research lowered their target price on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Exact Sciences from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $58.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.54 and a beta of 1.25. Exact Sciences has a one year low of $40.62 and a one year high of $80.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical research company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.28. The business had revenue of $699.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $690.02 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 6.70% and a negative return on equity of 4.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.45) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Exact Sciences will post -0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 89,196 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,160,000 after purchasing an additional 12,349 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 13.1% during the first quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,584 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,090,000 after acquiring an additional 18,595 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,559,751 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,299,070,000 after acquiring an additional 115,058 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 22,687 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Exact Sciences by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 207,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,361,000 after purchasing an additional 10,356 shares during the last quarter. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.