Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) Price Target Raised to $78.00

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS – Get Rating) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Benchmark from $54.00 to $78.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Benchmark’s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.91% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on EXAS. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Cowen increased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $56.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Exact Sciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exact Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.14.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

Exact Sciences stock opened at $66.15 on Wednesday. Exact Sciences has a 12 month low of $29.27 and a 12 month high of $76.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.79 billion, a PE ratio of -18.69 and a beta of 1.42.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.72) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by $0.18. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 19.76% and a negative net margin of 29.92%. The business had revenue of $553.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $525.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.28) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Exact Sciences will post -2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Exact Sciences

In related news, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 14,617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.59, for a total transaction of $958,729.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,189,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,027,175.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jacob A. Orville sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $325,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $742,495. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kevin T. Conroy sold 14,617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.59, for a total value of $958,729.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,189,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,027,175.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,126 shares of company stock valued at $3,915,586 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exact Sciences

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 12.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 39,170 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares during the last quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Exact Sciences by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 114,450 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,718,000 after buying an additional 6,852 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Exact Sciences by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 945,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,735,000 after buying an additional 251,091 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Exact Sciences by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 92,581 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,647,000 after buying an additional 7,367 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Exact Sciences Company Profile

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EXACT Sciences Corp. is a cancer screening and diagnostics company. The firm focuses on the early detection and prevention of some forms of cancer. It offers a non-invasive screening test called Cologuard for the early detection of colorectal cancer and pre-cancer and Oncotype DX. The company was founded on February 10, 1995, and is headquartered in Madison, WI.