LB Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LBRX) Shares Climb 4.7% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• LB Pharmaceuticals shares rose 4.7% to $35.87, though trading volume was 82% below the average session volume. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.14, compared with a 200-day average of $34.70.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $56.56 price target. However, Roth Capital downgraded the stock to “neutral,” while Guggenheim initiated coverage with a “buy” rating and an $80 target.
• The clinical-stage biotech missed quarterly earnings expectations, reporting an EPS loss of $1.71 versus the expected $0.84 loss; analysts forecast a full-year loss of $5.78 per share. Its lead candidate, LB-102, is being developed for schizophrenia treatment in the U.S.

LB Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:LBRX - Get Free Report) shares were up 4.7% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $35.43 and last traded at $35.87. 51,323 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 277,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LBRX shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $53.00 price target on LB Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Roth Capital cut LB Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded LB Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Guggenheim assumed coverage on LB Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded LB Pharmaceuticals from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.56.

LB Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.20.

LB Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LBRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($1.71) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.84) by ($0.87). Equities analysts expect that LB Pharmaceuticals Inc will post -5.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LB Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in LB Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in shares of LB Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $372,000. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new stake in LB Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $593,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in LB Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $987,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of LB Pharmaceuticals by 12.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 45,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,940 shares in the last quarter.

LB Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

LB Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for central nervous system and neuropsychiatric disorders. The company's lead product candidate is LB-102, an oral prodrug of amisulpride, an established antipsychotic medicine that is approved in certain countries outside the United States but is not currently approved in the U.S.

LB-102 is being developed for the treatment of schizophrenia, with the company seeking to evaluate its potential to address the needs of patients and healthcare providers in the U.S.

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