Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $6.34 Million Stake in GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WGS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WGS) by 354.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,584 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 55,833 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.26% of GeneDx worth $6,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of GeneDx by 877.8% during the fourth 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. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in GeneDx by 151.7% during the first 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. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of GeneDx during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of GeneDx in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in shares of GeneDx in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WGS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of GeneDx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of GeneDx from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $88.00) on shares of GeneDx in a report on Monday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on GeneDx from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on GeneDx in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Three 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.33.

GeneDx Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of GeneDx stock opened at $80.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of -57.07 and a beta of 2.01. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a current ratio of 3.25. GeneDx Holdings Corp. has a 52-week low of $25.32 and a 52-week high of $117.75.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $87.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.90 million. GeneDx had a negative net margin of 11.69% and a positive return on equity of 10.17%. On average, analysts predict that GeneDx Holdings Corp. will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

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.