Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Soaring After Stifel Nicolaus Raises Price Target

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals LXRX is trading higher on the session after Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target from $3 to $4 and reiterated the Buy rating. On Monday, the company announced positive phase 2 trial results for its diabetes drug. Stifel Nicolaus stated, "Management intends to move the once-daily (QD) 400mg dose forward into P3 development – a decision we fully support given the meaningfully greater HbA1c reduction and totality of secondary efficacy data suggesting increasing efficacy at this dose level is not related to urinary glucose excretion (UGE) alone. Statistically significant reductions in both body weight and systolic blood pressure – two poorly controlled co-morbidities in this patient population – were also observed at daily dose exposures >200mg." Lexicon Pharmaceuticals is currently trading at $2.20, a gain of $0.25 or 12.82%.