Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) Short Interest Down 9.5% in October

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,060,000 shares, a decrease of 9.5% from the October 15th total of 15,540,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 838.1% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 394 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Vestor Capital LLC bought a new stake in Exact Sciences in the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Exact Sciences stock traded up $4.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $53.83. 1,927,083 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,643,691. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $65.64 and its 200 day moving average is $56.08. Exact Sciences has a 52-week low of $40.62 and a 52-week high of $79.62. The stock has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.43 and a beta of 1.27.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $708.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.80 million. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 7.95% and a negative return on equity of 6.17%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Exact Sciences will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on EXAS. Citigroup dropped their price target on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Exact Sciences from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $82.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.47.

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.