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

Exagen Inc. (NASDAQ:XGN) was the target of a significant 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. Based on an average daily volume of 170,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Exagen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:XGN traded down $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $4.42. 58,800 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 210,790. Exagen has a 12-month low of $1.30 and a 12-month high of $6.22. The company has a current ratio of 4.05, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.45. The company has a market cap of $77.97 million, a PE ratio of -4.70 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Exagen

In other Exagen news, major shareholder Nmsic Co-Investment Fund, L.P. sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.30, for a total transaction of $660,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,108,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,959,561.40. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John Aballi bought 24,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.81 per share, with a total value of $68,297.05. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 689,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,938,335.19. The trade was a 3.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 26.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exagen

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XGN. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in Exagen during the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. Verus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Exagen during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Exagen by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Exagen during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Exagen during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. 75.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).