Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) Short Interest Up 13.2% in September

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,420,000 shares, an increase of 13.2% from the August 31st total of 14,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on EXAS shares. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Exact Sciences from $91.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exact Sciences

In other news, EVP Brian Baranick sold 929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $65,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $958,090. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exact Sciences

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Exact Sciences in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $49,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.82% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Exact Sciences stock opened at $68.12 on Tuesday. Exact Sciences has a 1-year low of $40.62 and a 1-year high of $79.62. The company has a market capitalization of $12.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.61 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

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