Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,494,653 Shares of Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND) by 98.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,146 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,494,653 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Blend Labs were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lightspeed Management Company L.L.C. bought a new stake in Blend Labs during the fourth quarter worth about $97,366,000. Whitebark Investors LP bought a new stake in shares of Blend Labs in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,895,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in Blend Labs in the fourth quarter worth $6,765,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Blend Labs by 1,230.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,576,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Blend Labs in the fourth quarter worth $5,722,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blend Labs Price Performance

Shares of BLND opened at $3.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $904.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.50. Blend Labs, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2.37 and a 1 year high of $5.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLND has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blend Labs from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Blend Labs in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $5.25 price objective on shares of Blend Labs in a research note on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Blend Labs from $5.60 to $4.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Blend Labs from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blend Labs has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nima Ghamsari sold 75,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.30, for a total transaction of $249,876.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 6,065,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,017,592.10. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Kneafsey sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.63, for a total transaction of $90,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 721,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,400.74. The trade was a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 224,850 shares of company stock worth $763,164. Corporate insiders own 35.52% of the company’s stock.

About Blend Labs

Blend Labs, Inc engages in the provision of cloud-based software platform solutions for financial services firms in the United States. It operates in two segments, Blend Platform and Title365. The company's Blend Builder Platform offers a suite of products that powers digital-first consumer journeys for mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, vehicle loans, personal loans, credit cards, and deposit accounts; and offers mortgage products to facilitate the homeownership journey for consumers comprising close, income verification for mortgage, homeowners' insurance, and realty.