GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) Shares Down 5.5% – What’s Next?

GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WGS) shares traded down 5.5% on Friday. The stock traded as low as $66.92 and last traded at $66.3710. Approximately 32,972 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 96% from the average daily volume of 919,692 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WGS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of GeneDx from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised GeneDx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded GeneDx from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of GeneDx in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of GeneDx in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.86.

GeneDx Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.34. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of -18.01 and a beta of 1.95.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.20. GeneDx had a negative net margin of 23.41% and a positive return on equity of 4.12%. The firm had revenue of $114.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that GeneDx Holdings Corp. will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GeneDx news, CFO Kevin Feeley sold 3,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.61, for a total transaction of $363,890.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,387,081.45. This represents a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Katherine Stueland sold 10,501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.61, for a total value of $1,025,002.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 115,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,271,612.36. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 valued at $1,808,056 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 25.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of GeneDx by 77.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 234,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,066,000 after buying an additional 102,456 shares in the last quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC grew its position in GeneDx by 222.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GeneDx during the 1st quarter valued at $2,177,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in GeneDx by 65.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 633,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,681,000 after purchasing an additional 251,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in GeneDx in the second quarter valued at about $4,258,000. 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.