Blend Labs (NYSE:BLND) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Blend Labs (NYSE:BLND) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BLND. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blend Labs from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blend Labs from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3.00 target price on Blend Labs in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Blend Labs from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blend Labs in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blend Labs presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.82.

Blend Labs Stock Performance

Shares of Blend Labs stock opened at $0.90 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1.30 and a 200 day moving average of $1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $213.57 million, a P/E ratio of -10.03 and a beta of 1.08. Blend Labs has a fifty-two week low of $0.88 and a fifty-two week high of $3.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blend Labs news, insider Nima Ghamsari sold 21,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.19, for a total transaction of $25,000.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,850,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,341,929.59. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Srinivasan Venkatramani sold 74,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.43, for a total transaction of $106,828.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 236,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,285.09. This represents a 24.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 167,607 shares of company stock valued at $205,707 over the last quarter. 40.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blend Labs

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Blend Labs by 25.0% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 67,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 13,428 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC increased its stake in Blend Labs by 21,768.1% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 15,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 15,673 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Blend Labs by 6.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 340,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 21,713 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Blend Labs by 248.8% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 30,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 21,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in Blend Labs by 52.5% during the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 23,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

About Blend Labs

Blend Labs, Inc is a financial technology company that provides cloud-based software to banks, credit unions and other financial institutions. Its platform is designed to digitize and streamline the process of applying for, underwriting and closing financial products, helping institutions deliver more consistent experiences across digital and physical channels.

The company’s solutions support a range of lending and banking activities, including consumer deposit accounts, mortgages, home equity loans, personal loans, auto loans and credit cards.