HC Wainwright Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX)

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $6.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 248.84% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on LXRX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals from $2.10 to $2.30 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.15.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ LXRX opened at $1.72 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 4.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Lexicon Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $0.32 and a twelve month high of $1.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1.48 and a 200 day moving average of $1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $728.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.28 and a beta of 0.94.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.03. Lexicon Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 41.94% and a negative net margin of 101.08%.The business had revenue of $5.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lexicon Pharmaceuticals will post -0.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Raymond Debbane acquired 100,000 shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at $2,799,153.42. This represents a 5.54% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Invus Global Management, Llc acquired 1,538,462 shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $1.30 per share, for a total transaction of $2,000,000.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,538,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,000,000.60. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 1,790,462 shares of company stock worth $2,369,981. Insiders own 14.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA acquired a new position in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 74.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.