Piper Sandler Initiates Coverage on GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS)

Analysts at Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an "overweight" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler's price target suggests a potential upside of 26.57% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of GeneDx from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of GeneDx from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $88.00) on shares of GeneDx in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of GeneDx from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of GeneDx from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.33.

GeneDx Stock Down 5.4%

Shares of WGS stock traded down $4.97 on Wednesday, hitting $86.91. The stock had a trading volume of 931,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 825,002. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.18 and a 200 day moving average of $82.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 3.25 and a quick ratio of 3.07. GeneDx has a 12-month low of $25.32 and a 12-month high of $117.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.64 and a beta of 2.01.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.17. GeneDx had a positive return on equity of 10.17% and a negative net margin of 11.69%. The firm had revenue of $87.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.90 million. As a group, analysts expect that GeneDx will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Katherine Stueland sold 9,657 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total transaction of $878,207.58. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Keith A. Meister acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $56.01 per share, for a total transaction of $5,601,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,008,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,513,310.29. This represents a 3.44% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,913 shares of company stock worth $1,314,514. 29.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of GeneDx

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WGS. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised 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 during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in GeneDx in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in GeneDx by 151.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in GeneDx in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in GeneDx by 3,223.5% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 565 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company's stock.

GeneDx Company Profile

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.