Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND) by 697.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,733,004 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,390,337 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Blend Labs were worth $10,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Blend Labs in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in Blend Labs during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blend Labs during the third quarter worth $63,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blend Labs in the third quarter worth $77,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Blend Labs by 15.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 3,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Blend Labs Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLND opened at $4.30 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.65 and a beta of 1.33. Blend Labs, Inc. has a one year low of $2.08 and a one year high of $5.53.

Insider Activity at Blend Labs

In other news, insider Oxana Tkach sold 18,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $94,918.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,346.86. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy J. Mayopoulos sold 56,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.50, for a total transaction of $310,695.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 331,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,215. This trade represents a 14.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,782 shares of company stock valued at $1,011,478 over the last 90 days. 13.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BLND. JMP Securities started coverage on Blend Labs in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Blend Labs from $4.50 to $6.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blend Labs to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Blend Labs from $3.40 to $3.90 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $5.75 price target on shares of Blend Labs in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.11.

About Blend Labs

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.