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

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,890,000 shares, an increase of 56.0% from the March 31st total of 6,340,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,390,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Exact Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXAS traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.85. 2,019,062 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,963,292. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Exact Sciences has a twelve month low of $56.05 and a twelve month high of $100.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.95.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.26. The business had revenue of $646.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.83 million. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 6.60% and a negative net margin of 8.17%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.72) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Exact Sciences will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In other Exact Sciences news, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 966 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $59,341.38. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,488 shares in the company, valued at $459,987.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 14,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $908,611.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,224,357 shares in the company, valued at $75,212,250.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 966 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $59,341.38. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,488 shares in the company, valued at $459,987.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,113 shares of company stock valued at $4,165,273 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exact Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in Exact Sciences by 459.5% during the 4th quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 414 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Exact Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Exact Sciences by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 700 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Exact Sciences by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 773 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EXAS. TheStreet lowered shares of Exact Sciences from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Exact Sciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Benchmark upgraded shares of Exact Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.44.

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.