Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 55,833 Shares of GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WGS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WGS - Free Report) by 354.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 71,584 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 55,833 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.26% of GeneDx worth $6,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in GeneDx by 877.8% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in GeneDx in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GeneDx by 151.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of GeneDx in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of GeneDx in the 4th quarter worth about $78,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevin Feeley sold 5,278 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total value of $490,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 3,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $315,456. This represents a 60.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Katherine Stueland sold 9,657 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total transaction of $878,207.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $449,243.60. This trade represents a 66.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,411 shares of company stock worth $2,104,828. Insiders own 29.60% of the company's stock.

GeneDx Price Performance

Shares of GeneDx stock traded down $2.55 on Friday, reaching $77.87. The stock had a trading volume of 666,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 827,907. GeneDx Holdings Corp. has a 1 year low of $25.32 and a 1 year high of $117.75. The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.23 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a current ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business's 50 day moving average is $75.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.78.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $87.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.90 million. GeneDx had a negative net margin of 11.69% and a positive return on equity of 10.17%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that GeneDx Holdings Corp. will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WGS. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $88.00) on shares of GeneDx in a report on Monday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of GeneDx from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of GeneDx from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of GeneDx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on GeneDx from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.33.

About GeneDx

GeneDx Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides genomics-related diagnostic and information services. The company offers Centrellis, an AI-driven health intelligence platform that integrates digital tools and artificial intelligence allowing scientists to ingest and synthesize clinical and genomic data to deliver comprehensive health insights.