Exagen Inc. (NASDAQ:XGN) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Exagen Inc. (NASDAQ:XGN) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 729,740 shares, a decrease of 52.5% from the March 31st total of 1,534,970 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 193,705 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Insider Activity at Exagen

In other news, CEO John Aballi sold 15,698 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.62, for a total transaction of $56,826.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 687,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,488,022.38. This trade represents a 2.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 12.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of XGN. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exagen by 109.5% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exagen during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Perkins Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exagen by 286.5% in the first quarter. Perkins Capital Management Inc. now owns 71,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 53,221 shares during the period. T3 Companies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exagen in the fourth quarter valued at $347,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Exagen during the 4th quarter valued at $231,000. 75.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group set a $10.00 price target on Exagen in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of Exagen in a report on Friday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of Exagen from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Exagen from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exagen in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exagen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.38.

Exagen Price Performance

XGN stock opened at $2.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $64.94 million, a PE ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.91. Exagen has a 12-month low of $2.59 and a 12-month high of $12.23.

Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.20). Exagen had a negative return on equity of 105.03% and a negative net margin of 29.97%.The business had revenue of $16.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.46 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Exagen will post -0.77 EPS 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.