Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $47.16, but opened at $52.12. Exact Sciences shares last traded at $52.57, with a volume of 2,024,419 shares traded.

The medical research company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.16. Exact Sciences had a negative net margin of 37.29% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. The company had revenue of $706.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.60) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Exact Sciences from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Exact Sciences from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exact Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exact Sciences

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Exact Sciences by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 241,774 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,585,000 after purchasing an additional 36,505 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 95,827 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,385,000 after buying an additional 24,992 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,508 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 2,315 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Exact Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $478,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Exact Sciences by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 13,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.31. The company has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.25 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Exact Sciences Company Profile

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.