Blend Labs (NYSE:BLND) Upgraded by Citizens Jmp to Strong-Buy Rating

Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blend Labs (NYSE:BLND) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on BLND. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Blend Labs from $4.50 to $6.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Blend Labs from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JMP Securities initiated coverage on Blend Labs in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Blend Labs from $3.25 to $3.85 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Blend Labs from $3.40 to $3.90 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.11.

Blend Labs Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BLND opened at $4.40 on Wednesday. Blend Labs has a 1-year low of $2.08 and a 1-year high of $5.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -12.94 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.61.

Insider Transactions at Blend Labs

In related news, insider Winnie Ling sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.06, for a total transaction of $40,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 279,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,133,426.14. This represents a 3.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Kneafsey sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total transaction of $151,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 907,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,582,566.95. This trade represents a 3.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 211,838 shares of company stock worth $1,050,644. 13.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blend Labs

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLND. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Blend Labs by 697.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,733,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,249,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,337 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Blend Labs in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,463,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Blend Labs during the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Blend Labs by 263.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 407,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 295,460 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blend Labs by 6.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,767,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,880,000 after buying an additional 283,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Blend Labs Company Profile

Blend Labs, Inc engages in the provision of cloud-based software platform solutions for financial services firms in the United States. It operates in two segments, Blend Platform and Title365. The company's Blend Builder Platform offers a suite of products that powers digital-first consumer journeys for mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, vehicle loans, personal loans, credit cards, and deposit accounts; and offers mortgage products to facilitate the homeownership journey for consumers comprising close, income verification for mortgage, homeowners' insurance, and realty.