GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WGS. Weiss Ratings raised shares of GeneDx from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of GeneDx in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of GeneDx in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of GeneDx in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded GeneDx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.57.

GeneDx Stock Up 10.8%

Shares of NASDAQ WGS opened at $77.08 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $62.84 and its 200 day moving average is $68.57. GeneDx has a 52 week low of $32.21 and a 52 week high of $170.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.18 and a beta of 1.92.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $114.44 million during 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that GeneDx will post -1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at GeneDx

In other GeneDx news, CEO Katherine Stueland sold 10,501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.77, for a total value of $638,145.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 104,372 shares in the company, valued at $6,342,686.44. This trade represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Casdin Capital, Llc bought 50,000 shares of GeneDx stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.86 per share, for a total transaction of $2,643,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,707,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,960,689.04. This trade represents a 1.37% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 1,551,273 shares of company stock worth $65,979,582 and sold 19,135 shares worth $1,128,499. Corporate insiders own 25.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GeneDx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WGS. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in GeneDx by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 381,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,647,000 after buying an additional 89,470 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of GeneDx by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,220,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,738,000 after buying an additional 52,322 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of GeneDx by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,189,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,650,000 after acquiring an additional 18,647 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC purchased a new position in GeneDx during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,167,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in GeneDx by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,092,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,154,000 after acquiring an additional 411,607 shares during the period. 61.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GeneDx Company Profile

GeneDx is a clinical diagnostics company specializing in comprehensive genetic and genomic testing for rare and inherited disorders. The company offers a broad portfolio of assays, including targeted gene panels, whole exome sequencing, whole genome sequencing and chromosomal microarray analysis. GeneDx’s laboratory services support the diagnosis of a wide range of conditions—from rare pediatric diseases and hereditary cancer syndromes to neuromuscular and metabolic disorders—by providing clinicians with detailed variant interpretation and reporting.

Founded in 2000 and based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, GeneDx was established with the aim of accelerating the translation of genomic discoveries into clinical care.