Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX) Hits New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Lexicon Pharmaceuticals shares hit a new 52-week high of $2.00 after rising from a previous close of $1.68, with heavy trading volume of more than 6.9 million shares.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed: Weiss Ratings kept a sell rating, while HC Wainwright and Citigroup maintained buy views, with Citigroup raising its target to $2.30. The overall consensus rating remains Hold with a $4.15 average price target.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, posting break-even EPS versus an expected loss and reporting $21.1 million in revenue, well above estimates. Insider and institutional buying also continued, including a director purchase of 100,000 shares and hedge funds owning about 74.7% of the stock.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:LXRX - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Saturday . The company traded as high as $2.00 and last traded at $2.00, with a volume of 6980115 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $1.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LXRX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Lexicon Pharmaceuticals from $2.10 to $2.30 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.15.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $847.36 million, a PE ratio of -28.57 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 4.88 and a quick ratio of 4.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1.66 and a 200 day moving average of $1.45.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $21.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.79 million. Lexicon Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 21.92% and a negative net margin of 37.46%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lexicon Pharmaceuticals news, Director Raymond Debbane bought 100,000 shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.47 per share, with a total value of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 1,904,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,799,153.42. This represents a 5.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased 252,000 shares of company stock worth $369,980 over the last three months. 14.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA purchased a new stake in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 74.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel medicines through its proprietary genome biology platform. By leveraging large-scale gene knockout libraries, the company identifies potential therapeutic targets and advances them through preclinical and clinical development. Lexicon's approach emphasizes the translation of genetic insights into targeted therapies for a range of human diseases.

The company's most advanced product is telotristat ethyl (sold under the brand name XERMELO), an oral treatment approved for the management of carcinoid syndrome diarrhea in patients inadequately controlled by somatostatin analog therapy.

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