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

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND) by 697.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,733,004 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,390,337 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Blend Labs were worth $10,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLND. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blend Labs by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,249,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,060,000 after acquiring an additional 46,526 shares in the last quarter. ShawSpring Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blend Labs by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. ShawSpring Partners LLC now owns 6,716,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,850,000 after purchasing an additional 2,485,283 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blend Labs by 8.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 780,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 62,000 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Blend Labs by 3,799.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 654,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 638,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of Blend Labs by 253.8% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 523,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after buying an additional 375,233 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blend Labs

In other news, insider Winnie Ling sold 20,000 shares of Blend Labs stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.33, for a total transaction of $66,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $953,765.28. The trade was a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 54,303 shares of company stock worth $192,926 in the last 90 days. 13.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLND. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Blend Labs from $3.50 to $4.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Blend Labs from $3.40 to $3.90 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Blend Labs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $4.75 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Blend Labs from $3.25 to $3.85 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blend Labs presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4.46.

Blend Labs Trading Up 4.9 %

BLND opened at $4.53 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3.80 and its 200 day moving average is $3.25. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.32 and a beta of 1.16. Blend Labs, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.18 and a 12-month high of $4.84.

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.