Exagen Inc. (NASDAQ:XGN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Exagen Inc. (NASDAQ:XGN – Get Rating) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 351,000 shares, an increase of 73.2% from the April 15th total of 202,600 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 40,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.6 days.

Exagen stock opened at $4.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 12.10 and a quick ratio of 12.10. Exagen has a 1-year low of $4.82 and a 1-year high of $17.58. The company has a market cap of $78.51 million, a PE ratio of -2.65 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $7.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.99.

Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.59) by ($0.01). Exagen had a negative net margin of 55.59% and a negative return on equity of 28.75%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.48) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exagen will post -1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Exagen by 269.1% during the second quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 364,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,470,000 after purchasing an additional 266,001 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exagen by 15.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 160,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,178,000 after purchasing an additional 21,444 shares in the last quarter. Cowen AND Company LLC boosted its position in Exagen by 90.7% during the third quarter. Cowen AND Company LLC now owns 1,384,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,831,000 after purchasing an additional 658,553 shares in the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exagen by 130.4% during the third quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 390,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,313,000 after purchasing an additional 221,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis purchased a new stake in Exagen during the third quarter worth $1,700,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.02% of the company’s stock.

Several research analysts have commented on XGN shares. Zacks Investment Research raised Exagen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 28th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Exagen from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Exagen in a research note on Friday, January 14th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on Exagen from $20.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Exagen from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.33.

About Exagen (Get Rating)

Exagen Inc develops and commercializes various testing products based on its cell-bound complement activation products technology under the AVISE brand in the United States. It enables rheumatologists 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).

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