Short Interest in Exagen Inc. (NASDAQ:XGN) Grows By 65.7%

Exagen Inc. (NASDAQ:XGN) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,793,289 shares, a growth of 65.7% from the December 31st total of 1,082,304 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 675,768 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 9.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Approximately 9.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 675,768 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exagen

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exagen by 7.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 733,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,065,000 after purchasing an additional 52,205 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Exagen in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,017,000. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in Exagen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,420,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Exagen by 77.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 551,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,065,000 after acquiring an additional 241,127 shares during the period. Finally, Wexford Capital LP raised its holdings in Exagen by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wexford Capital LP now owns 444,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,890,000 after acquiring an additional 28,579 shares during the period. 75.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp upped their price target on Exagen from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Exagen from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Exagen in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Exagen from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Exagen in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Exagen Stock Down 6.8%

XGN opened at $3.68 on Friday. Exagen has a twelve month low of $2.67 and a twelve month high of $12.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $6.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.50. The stock has a market cap of $83.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.00 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a quick ratio of 4.08, a current ratio of 4.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.06). Exagen had a negative return on equity of 113.48% and a negative net margin of 29.94%.The company had revenue of $17.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.90 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Exagen will post -0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

About Exagen

Exagen Inc is a molecular diagnostics company focused on improving the detection and management of autoimmune diseases. Headquartered in the United States, the company develops, manufactures and markets laboratory tests designed to help clinicians address diagnostic challenges associated with complex connective tissue disorders.

The company’s flagship product portfolio, marketed under the Avise® brand, includes multi-analyte assays such as the Avise® Connective Tissue Disease (CTD) panel, Avise® Lupus panel and Avise® Sjögren’s panel.