Blend Labs (NYSE:BLND) Upgraded by Citizens Jmp to Strong-Buy Rating

Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blend Labs (NYSE:BLND) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Blend Labs from $4.50 to $6.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Blend Labs from $3.40 to $3.90 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of Blend Labs in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Blend Labs from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blend Labs from $3.25 to $3.85 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blend Labs has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.11.

Blend Labs Stock Performance

Shares of Blend Labs stock traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $4.64. 229,279 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,366,063. Blend Labs has a 1 year low of $2.08 and a 1 year high of $5.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -13.65 and a beta of 1.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blend Labs news, insider Winnie Ling sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.43, for a total transaction of $68,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 259,169 shares in the company, valued at $888,949.67. The trade was a 7.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Kneafsey sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total value of $151,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 907,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,582,566.95. This represents a 3.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 211,838 shares of company stock worth $1,050,644. Corporate insiders own 13.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blend Labs

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLND. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Blend Labs in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Xponance Inc. bought a new position in Blend Labs in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blend Labs during the third quarter worth approximately $63,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blend Labs during the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Blend Labs by 15.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 3,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% 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.