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

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on WGS. Wells Fargo & Company set a $155.00 price objective on shares of GeneDx and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of GeneDx from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of GeneDx in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on GeneDx from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of GeneDx in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.13.

GeneDx Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of WGS opened at $84.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 936.56 and a beta of 2.01. GeneDx has a 1 year low of $55.17 and a 1 year high of $170.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joshua Ruch sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.37, for a total transaction of $6,094,060.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,914,978.17. This represents a 76.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Bryan Dechairo sold 5,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.70, for a total value of $510,857.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 68,961 shares of company stock worth $10,027,891 over the last three months. 29.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WGS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in GeneDx by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,611,000 after buying an additional 6,840 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in GeneDx by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of GeneDx by 270,700.0% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 2,707 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of GeneDx by 67.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 28,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after acquiring an additional 11,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc bought a new position in GeneDx in the second quarter worth approximately $12,622,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About GeneDx

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.