Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.66 and a 200-day moving average of $1.45. The company has a market cap of $847.36 million, a P/E ratio of -28.57 and a beta of 0.97. 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 (NASDAQ:LXRX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $21.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.79 million. Lexicon Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 21.92% and a negative net margin of 37.46%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals

In other Lexicon Pharmaceuticals news, Director Raymond Debbane bought 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $1.47 per share, with a total value of $147,000.00. Following the purchase, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 252,000 shares of company stock worth $369,980. 14.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lexicon Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals by 43.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 27,459 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 8,335 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd grew its stake in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals by 45.0% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 67,526 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 20,947 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 594,883 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $684,000 after acquiring an additional 73,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Lexicon Pharmaceuticals by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,821,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,545,000 after buying an additional 991,073 shares in the last quarter. 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.