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

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,450,000 shares, a growth of 7.6% from the May 31st total of 8,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insider Activity

In other Exact Sciences news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 1,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.15, for a total transaction of $69,473.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,156,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,544,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,498 shares of company stock worth $90,105. Insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 459.5% in the fourth quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 414 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Exact Sciences by 65.6% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Exact Sciences by 92.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EXAS shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Exact Sciences in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research dropped their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Exact Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.80.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS traded up $0.74 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,872,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,664,259. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.97 billion, a PE ratio of -32.70 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.82. Exact Sciences has a 52 week low of $40.62 and a 52 week high of $100.77.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $637.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $624.95 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 9.48% and a negative return on equity of 7.12%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Exact Sciences will post -1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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.