GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) Shares Down 6.1% – Here’s What Happened

GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WGS) traded down 6.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $72.04 and last traded at $71.6040. Approximately 99,024 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 930,062 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of GeneDx in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on GeneDx from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Guggenheim raised their target price on GeneDx from $74.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Zacks Research upgraded GeneDx from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised GeneDx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.86.

GeneDx Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $82.41 and a 200 day moving average of $67.29. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.83 and a beta of 1.95.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $114.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that GeneDx Holdings Corp. will post -0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at GeneDx

In other GeneDx news, CEO Katherine Stueland sold 10,501 shares of GeneDx stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 44,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,387,081.45. This trade represents a 7.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. 25.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GeneDx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in GeneDx by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,092,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,154,000 after purchasing an additional 411,607 shares during the period. First Light Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of GeneDx by 67.3% in the first quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 638,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,024,000 after purchasing an additional 257,075 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of GeneDx by 65.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 633,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,681,000 after buying an additional 251,732 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.