Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX) Shares Up 12.8% – Time to Buy?

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:LXRX)’s stock price shot up 12.8% on Friday . The company traded as high as $1.86 and last traded at $1.8950. 2,759,002 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 2,626,439 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on LXRX shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals from $2.10 to $2.30 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.15.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.87, a current ratio of 4.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $847.36 million, a PE ratio of -28.57 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.45.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.04. Lexicon Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 37.46% and a negative return on equity of 21.92%. The business had revenue of $21.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.79 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Raymond Debbane purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1.47 per share, with a total value of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,904,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,799,153.42. This trade represents a 5.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $369,980 over the last quarter. 14.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lexicon Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals by 752.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,007,237 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,458,000 after buying an additional 2,654,315 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $3,240,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals by 133.1% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,830,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,171,000 after buying an additional 2,187,396 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $1,452,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $541,000. Hedge funds and other 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.