Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Cut to “Hold” at Baird R W

Baird R W lowered shares of Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Exact Sciences from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wolfe Research lowered Exact Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Craig Hallum downgraded Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday. BTIG Research lowered Exact Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Exact Sciences from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.38.

Exact Sciences Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ EXAS opened at $100.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.89. Exact Sciences has a 1 year low of $38.81 and a 1 year high of $101.87. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.45. The firm has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.58, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.34.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The medical research company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.11. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 1.75% and a negative net margin of 34.19%.The firm had revenue of $850.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $810.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.21) EPS. Exact Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. Exact Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Exact Sciences will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Exact Sciences

In other Exact Sciences news, EVP Brian Baranick sold 2,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total value of $200,288.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,567,549.44. This represents a 11.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James Edward Doyle sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 57,962 shares in the company, valued at $3,477,720. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,858 shares of company stock worth $695,289. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exact Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. National Pension Service increased its position in Exact Sciences by 75.1% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 681 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 951.8% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 589 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exact Sciences by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 542 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, Country Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. 88.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.