Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Lexicon Pharmaceuticals stock hit a new 52-week high of $1.86 on heavy volume (~2.13M shares) and is trading above its 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages ($1.56 and $1.43).
• Analyst views are mixed — two Buys and one Sell with a MarketBeat consensus “Hold” and a $4.15 target, while HC Wainwright carries a $6 target and Citigroup recently raised its target to $2.30; the company also beat quarterly EPS (‑$0.04 vs. ‑$0.07) and revenue estimates.
• There has been notable insider and institutional buying recently — Invus purchased 1,538,462 shares and a director bought 100,000 shares, insiders increased holdings materially (14% insider ownership) and institutions now own 74.7% of the stock.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:LXRX - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $1.86 and last traded at $1.86, with a volume of 2132253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LXRX has been the topic of several research reports. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Lexicon Pharmaceuticals from $2.10 to $2.30 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $4.15.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $1.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.43. The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 4.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $788.04 million, a P/E ratio of -13.28 and a beta of 0.94.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.03. Lexicon Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 101.08% and a negative return on equity of 41.94%. The business had revenue of $5.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.14 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Invus Global Management, Llc acquired 1,538,462 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.30 per share, for a total transaction of $2,000,000.60. Following the purchase, the director owned 1,538,462 shares in the company, valued at $2,000,000.60. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Raymond Debbane purchased 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $1.47 per share, for a total transaction of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,904,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,799,153.42. This trade represents a 5.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,790,462 shares of company stock worth $2,369,981. 14.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LXRX. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 136,407 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 29,319 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals by 173.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 285,759 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 181,265 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $541,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $263,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals by 431.4% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 66,276 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 53,805 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.70% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.