Blend Labs (NYSE:BLND) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.04, but opened at $5.33. Blend Labs shares last traded at $5.16, with a volume of 436,921 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on BLND shares. 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of Blend Labs in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Blend Labs from $3.40 to $3.90 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blend Labs to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Blend Labs from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blend Labs currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.11.

Blend Labs Trading Down 5.7 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -13.03 and a beta of 1.33.

Insider Activity at Blend Labs

In related news, Director Timothy J. Mayopoulos sold 56,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.50, for a total value of $310,695.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 331,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,215. This represents a 14.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Winnie Ling sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.43, for a total transaction of $68,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 259,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $888,949.67. This trade represents a 7.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 211,838 shares of company stock worth $1,050,644 in the last three months. 13.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.