Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twenty-one have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $92.1250.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Exact Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore set a $105.00 price objective on Exact Sciences and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up from $85.00) on shares of Exact Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Exact Sciences in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Exact Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXAS. HBK Investments L P bought a new position in Exact Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $776,592,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $736,310,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exact Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $348,425,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exact Sciences by 105.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,493,085 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $245,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Exact Sciences by 6,072,588.9% during the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,186,168 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $119,605,000 after buying an additional 2,186,132 shares during the period. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exact Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXAS opened at $104.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 2.17. Exact Sciences has a 1 year low of $38.81 and a 1 year high of $104.98. The firm has a market cap of $20.03 billion, a PE ratio of -95.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.41.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The medical research company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.29). Exact Sciences had a positive return on equity of 0.53% and a negative net margin of 6.40%.The business had revenue of $878.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $860.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Exact Sciences will post -0.58 EPS for the current year.

About Exact Sciences

Exact Sciences Corporation is a molecular diagnostics company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, dedicated to the early detection and prevention of cancer. The company’s flagship product, Cologuard®, is a noninvasive, stool-based DNA screening test for colorectal cancer that was developed in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic. By combining DNA mutation analysis with hemoglobin detection, Cologuard aims to improve screening adherence and identify cancers and precancerous lesions in average-risk adults.

Since its founding in 1995, Exact Sciences has expanded its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and internal research and development.