GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WGS)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $56.15, but opened at $58.07. GeneDx shares last traded at $61.2820, with a volume of 123,482 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on WGS shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of GeneDx from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of GeneDx from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of GeneDx in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of GeneDx in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of GeneDx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GeneDx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.86.

GeneDx Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 3.06 and a current ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of -17.19 and a beta of 1.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $80.50 and a 200-day moving average of $67.36.

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $114.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.01 million. GeneDx had a negative net margin of 23.41% and a positive return on equity of 4.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that GeneDx Holdings Corp. will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GeneDx news, CFO Kevin Feeley sold 3,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.61, for a total value of $363,890.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,945 shares in the company, valued at $4,387,081.45. The trade was a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Katherine Stueland sold 10,501 shares of the 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 $1,025,002.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 115,476 shares in the company, valued at $11,271,612.36. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 worth $1,808,056 over the last quarter. 25.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WGS. First Light Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of GeneDx by 222.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 783,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,816,000 after acquiring an additional 540,996 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in GeneDx by 108.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 632,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,723,000 after purchasing an additional 328,980 shares in the last quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 257,075 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in GeneDx by 143.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 265,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,062,000 after purchasing an additional 156,603 shares during the last quarter. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GeneDx Company Profile

GeneDx Holdings Corp., doing business as GeneDx, is a genomic diagnostics company that provides genetic testing and interpretation services for patients with suspected rare and inherited conditions. The company combines sequencing technologies with clinical expertise and data analysis to help healthcare professionals identify genetic causes of disease and support diagnosis, treatment planning and patient management.

GeneDx’s offerings include whole exome and whole genome sequencing, as well as targeted testing for specific genetic disorders and hereditary cancer conditions.