GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) Shares Down 6.3% on Insider Selling

GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WGS) shares were down 6.3% on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $88.25 and last traded at $90.48. Approximately 91,160 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 792,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.57.

Specifically, CEO Katherine Stueland sold 51,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.48, for a total transaction of $4,858,161.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,505.60. This represents a 96.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin Feeley sold 35,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.82, for a total value of $3,331,172.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,472 shares in the company, valued at $231,923.04. The trade was a 93.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CFO Kevin Feeley sold 1,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.04, for a total value of $108,737.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,035,590.80. This trade represents a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum raised their price target on GeneDx from $70.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of GeneDx from $75.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of GeneDx from $34.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of GeneDx from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.67.

GeneDx Stock Down 7.4 %

The company’s 50 day moving average is $78.01 and its 200 day moving average is $53.38. The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of -28.74 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.25. GeneDx had a negative net margin of 31.25% and a negative return on equity of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $76.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.98 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.82) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 44.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that GeneDx Holdings Corp. will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GeneDx

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WGS. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of GeneDx in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. CWM LLC purchased a new position in GeneDx during the 3rd quarter valued at about $89,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GeneDx in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $198,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of GeneDx during the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of GeneDx during the third quarter valued at approximately $287,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About GeneDx

GeneDx Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides genomics-related diagnostic and information services. The company offers Centrellis, an AI-driven health intelligence platform that integrates digital tools and artificial intelligence allowing scientists to ingest and synthesize clinical and genomic data to deliver comprehensive health insights.