GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on WGS. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of GeneDx from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of GeneDx in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of GeneDx in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of GeneDx from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of GeneDx in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.57.

GeneDx Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of WGS opened at $89.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.52 and a beta of 1.92. GeneDx has a 1 year low of $32.21 and a 1 year high of $170.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 3.30 and a quick ratio of 3.06.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that GeneDx will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin Feeley sold 3,729 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.77, for a total value of $226,611.33. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,428,004.58. This represents a 8.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, Director Casdin Capital, Llc purchased 150,000 shares of GeneDx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $56.44 per share, for a total transaction of $8,466,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,657,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,410,336.16. This trade represents a 4.28% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,135 shares of company stock valued at $1,128,499. 25.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of GeneDx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WGS. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of GeneDx by 5,912.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,505,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,793 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of GeneDx by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,220,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,738,000 after purchasing an additional 52,322 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in GeneDx by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,189,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,650,000 after buying an additional 18,647 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 411,607 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in GeneDx by 87.1% during the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

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.