GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) Shares Up 3.8% – Should You Buy?

GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WGS)’s stock price was up 3.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $66.49 and last traded at $67.4340. Approximately 42,636 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 920,290 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WGS. Weiss Ratings upgraded GeneDx from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Guggenheim upped their target price on GeneDx from $74.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of GeneDx in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of GeneDx from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded GeneDx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.86.

GeneDx Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of -18.64 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 3.06 and a current ratio of 3.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.20.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $114.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.01 million. GeneDx had a negative net margin of 23.41% and a positive return on equity of 4.12%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that GeneDx Holdings Corp. will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Katherine Stueland sold 10,501 shares of GeneDx stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.61, for a total value of $1,025,002.61. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 115,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,271,612.36. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevin Feeley sold 3,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.61, for a total value of $363,890.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 44,945 shares in the company, valued at $4,387,081.45. This trade represents a 7.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 19,206 shares of company stock worth $1,808,056 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 25.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GeneDx

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WGS. First Light Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of GeneDx by 222.7% in the second quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 783,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,816,000 after purchasing an additional 540,996 shares during the period. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in GeneDx during the second quarter worth $38,000. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in shares of GeneDx in the second quarter valued at $3,066,000. AlphaGrep UK Ltd purchased a new position in GeneDx during the 2nd quarter valued at about $238,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in GeneDx by 2.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 347,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,885,000 after buying an additional 6,922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

About GeneDx

GeneDx (NASDAQ: WGS) is a precision health company that provides genetic testing and related data services. The company focuses on helping healthcare professionals identify genetic conditions, support diagnosis and treatment decisions, and better understand inherited disease.

Its offerings include exome and genome sequencing, testing for rare and undiagnosed disorders, hereditary cancer testing, and other genetic analyses. GeneDx also provides clinical interpretation and reporting intended to help physicians evaluate genetic results in the context of a patient’s symptoms and family history.

Founded in 2000, GeneDx has built a business around genomic testing for patients with rare diseases and other inherited conditions.