Salix Pharmaceuticals Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Bank of America (SLXP)

Bank of America reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Salix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SLXP) in a research note released on Wednesday morning. They currently have a $56.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $50.00.

“We now include what we see as conservative sales assumptions for two late-stage pipeline products, rifaximin EIR for Crohn’s disease and budesonide foam for ulcerative proctitis. SLXP could launch budesonide foam in 2014 and rifaximin EIR in 2017, with the products fitting nicely into SLXP’s existing franchise. For the stock to do well from here, we need to see continued strong growth for Xifaxan and positive results from the Xifaxan IBS re-treatment study late this year/early next. While the risk/reward is less compelling than it was when we launched in Oct-11, we like the company’s scarcity value in a consolidating environment.,” Bank of America’s analyst commented.

SLXP has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Salix Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research note to investors on Monday. They now have a buy rating on the stock. Separately, analysts at Brean Murray raised their price target on shares of Salix Pharmaceuticals from $44.00 to $53.00 in a research note to investors on Friday, March 1st. They now have a buy rating on the stock.

Salix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SLXP) traded up 0.24% on Wednesday, hitting $49.56. Salix Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $37.52 and a 1-year high of $55.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $48.63. The company has a market cap of $3.031 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95.

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in acquiring, developing and commercializing prescription drugs and medical devices used in the treatment of a variety of gastrointestinal diseases, which are those affecting the digestive tract.

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