Franklin Resources Inc. Buys New Position in Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND)

Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 665,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,463,000. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Blend Labs as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Blend Labs in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Xponance Inc. bought a new position in Blend Labs in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blend Labs during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blend Labs in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blend Labs by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 3,576 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BLND shares. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of Blend Labs in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Blend Labs from $4.50 to $6.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blend Labs to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blend Labs from $3.25 to $3.85 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Blend Labs from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blend Labs currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy J. Mayopoulos sold 42,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $213,605.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 387,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,938,100. The trade was a 9.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Winnie Ling sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.43, for a total value of $68,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 259,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $888,949.67. This trade represents a 7.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 201,782 shares of company stock worth $1,011,478 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.21% of the company’s stock.

Blend Labs Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE BLND opened at $4.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.94 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4.50 and its 200-day moving average is $3.65. Blend Labs, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.08 and a 1-year high of $5.53.

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.