GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) Shares Up 7.9% – Still a Buy?

GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WGS)’s share price shot up 7.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $88.26 and last traded at $91.9330. 171,317 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 932,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WGS. Zacks Research upgraded GeneDx from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of GeneDx in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of GeneDx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of GeneDx from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of GeneDx from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.57.

GeneDx Trading Up 3.5%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.54. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of -24.31 and a beta of 1.99.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) last announced 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 company had revenue of $114.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.01 million. GeneDx had a positive return on equity of 4.12% and a negative net margin of 23.41%.During the same period last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Analysts predict that GeneDx Holdings Corp. will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GeneDx news, CEO Katherine Stueland sold 10,501 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $11,271,612.36. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.61, for a total transaction of $363,890.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 44,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,387,081.45. The trade was 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 19,206 shares of company stock worth $1,808,056. 25.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GeneDx

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in GeneDx by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,220,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,738,000 after purchasing an additional 52,322 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GeneDx by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,092,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,154,000 after buying an additional 411,607 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of GeneDx by 87.1% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,018,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,435,000 after buying an additional 474,167 shares in the last quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in GeneDx by 222.7% during the second quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 783,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,816,000 after acquiring an additional 540,996 shares during the period. Finally, Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in GeneDx by 67.3% during the first quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 638,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,024,000 after acquiring an additional 257,075 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

GeneDx Company Profile

GeneDx Holdings Corp., doing business as GeneDx, is a healthcare company focused on genetic testing and genomic diagnostics. The company provides testing designed to help healthcare professionals diagnose rare and inherited conditions, guide clinical management, and support research into genetic disease.

Its offerings include whole exome and whole genome sequencing, targeted genetic tests, chromosomal microarray analysis, and other tests used to identify disease-causing genetic variants.