GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Trading 9.7% Higher – Here’s What Happened

GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL)’s stock price rose 9.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $66.86 and last traded at $67.0850. Approximately 149,536 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 1,061,188 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on GRAIL from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on GRAIL from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho initiated coverage on GRAIL in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on GRAIL from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price objective on GRAIL in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.88.

GRAIL Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of -6.47 and a beta of 3.15.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($2.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.76) by $0.47. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 16.42% and a negative net margin of 253.22%.The firm had revenue of $40.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.16 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at GRAIL

In other GRAIL news, CEO Robert P. Ragusa sold 123,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.92, for a total transaction of $6,165,219.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 518,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,887,613.44. The trade was a 19.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 45,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.92, for a total value of $2,286,635.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 260,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,012,596.48. This trade represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,863 shares of company stock valued at $12,147,474. Company insiders own 1.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GRAIL

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GRAL. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of GRAIL by 73.7% in the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,342,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,510,000 after buying an additional 993,684 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of GRAIL by 63.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,511,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,385,000 after buying an additional 588,647 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of GRAIL by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,827,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,418,000 after buying an additional 510,546 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of GRAIL by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 2,085,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,484,000 after buying an additional 455,208 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of GRAIL in the fourth quarter worth about $37,874,000.

GRAIL Company Profile

GRAIL, Inc (NASDAQ: GRAL) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the early detection of cancer through a multi-cancer blood test. Leveraging advances in next-generation sequencing, cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis and machine learning, GRAIL has developed the Galleri™ test, which aims to identify more than 50 types of cancer at their earliest stages. The company’s platform analyzes methylation patterns in circulating tumor DNA to pinpoint tumor presence and tissue of origin, enabling physicians to pursue timely diagnostic follow-up.

Founded in 2016 as a spin-out from Illumina, GRAIL established its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, with additional research and operations centers in the United Kingdom.