Exagen Inc. (NASDAQ:XGN) Short Interest Up 260.8% in January

Exagen Inc. (NASDAQ:XGN) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,700 shares, a growth of 260.8% from the January 15th total of 7,400 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 170,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Exagen Price Performance

NASDAQ XGN opened at $4.27 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.05, a current ratio of 4.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $75.32 million, a PE ratio of -4.54 and a beta of 1.41. Exagen has a 52 week low of $1.30 and a 52 week high of $6.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.45.

Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by $0.02. Exagen had a negative return on equity of 92.58% and a negative net margin of 30.36%. The company had revenue of $12.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.31) EPS. Research analysts predict that Exagen will post -0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Exagen

In other Exagen news, major shareholder Nmsic Co-Investment Fund, L.P. sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.30, for a total transaction of $660,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,108,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,959,561.40. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 26.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Exagen during the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Exagen by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 184,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 14,920 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Exagen by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 98,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 10,442 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Exagen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Exagen in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. 75.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Exagen from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exagen in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of Exagen in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Exagen Company Profile

Exagen Inc develops and commercializes various testing products under the AVISE brand in the United States. The company enables healthcare providers to care for patients through the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of autoimmune and autoimmune-related diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).