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

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND) by 697.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund 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. owned 1.07% of Blend Labs worth $10,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLND. Fullcircle Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blend Labs in the 3rd quarter valued at about $508,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in Blend Labs in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,803,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Blend Labs in the third quarter valued at approximately $660,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blend Labs by 8.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 212,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 16,084 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blend Labs by 27.6% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 86,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 18,656 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BLND shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Blend Labs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $3.00 to $4.75 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Blend Labs from $3.25 to $3.85 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. William Blair upgraded Blend Labs from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Blend Labs from $3.50 to $4.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Blend Labs from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4.46.

Blend Labs Price Performance

Shares of BLND opened at $4.53 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of -13.32 and a beta of 1.16. Blend Labs, Inc. has a one year low of $1.18 and a one year high of $4.84.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Winnie Ling sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.06, for a total value of $40,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 279,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,133,426.14. This represents a 3.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 54,303 shares of company stock worth $192,926 in the last quarter. 13.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.