Lexeo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LXEO) Lowered to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Lexeo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LXEO) from a "hold" to a "sell", even though the MarketBeat consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $18.88.
• CEO Richard Nolan Townsend sold 55,000 shares under a Rule 10b5-1 plan (≈$312,950), reducing his stake by about 13.9%; insiders have sold 68,189 shares in the past 90 days and now own 5.3% of the company.
• Large institutional investors have built sizable positions (RA Capital, Paradigm Biocapital, Balyasny, Avoro, and State Street), leaving institutions with roughly 60.7% ownership, while the stock trades near $5.77 with a 1‑year range of $2.43–$10.99.

Lexeo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LXEO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on LXEO. Chardan Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Lexeo Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. HC Wainwright dropped their price objective on Lexeo Therapeutics from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Lexeo Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.88.

Lexeo Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of LXEO opened at $5.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.89. Lexeo Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $2.43 and a 1-year high of $10.99. The stock has a market cap of $427.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.63 and a beta of 1.53.

Lexeo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LXEO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.05. On average, equities analysts expect that Lexeo Therapeutics will post -1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard Nolan Townsend sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.69, for a total transaction of $312,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 340,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,203.14. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 68,189 shares of company stock valued at $397,156 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lexeo Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RA Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Lexeo Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $49,650,000. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lexeo Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $47,299,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Lexeo Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $16,117,000. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lexeo Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $32,769,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Lexeo Therapeutics by 485.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,187,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,654,000 after acquiring an additional 2,642,877 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.67% of the company's stock.

Lexeo Therapeutics Company Profile

Lexeo Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing novel, precision‐designed therapies for central nervous system disorders. The company’s research platform leverages advanced medicinal chemistry to create next‐generation psychedelic-inspired compounds aimed at treating a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression and substance use disorders.

The company’s pipeline features proprietary synthetic molecules engineered to target specific neural pathways while improving safety and tolerability profiles over traditional treatments.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.