GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Shares Up 7.1% – What’s Next?

GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL)’s stock price shot up 7.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $87.68 and last traded at $87.2720. 583,295 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 1,259,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GRAL has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on GRAIL from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim upgraded GRAIL from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group set a $75.00 price objective on GRAIL in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.00.

GRAIL Stock Up 7.9%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $68.69 and a 200-day moving average of $49.07. The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of -7.54 and a beta of 4.29.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($2.46) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.40) by $0.94. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 15.69% and a negative net margin of 286.43%.The business had revenue of $36.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.83 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that GRAIL, Inc. will post -15.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 81,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $5,086,562.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 396,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,799,812.50. This represents a 17.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert P. Ragusa sold 7,239 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total value of $498,622.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 727,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,102,485.44. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 113,295 shares of company stock worth $7,380,888 in the last 90 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GRAIL

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GRAL. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in GRAIL by 59.2% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in GRAIL by 768.1% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in GRAIL during the third quarter valued at $62,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in GRAIL in the third quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in shares of GRAIL in the second quarter valued at $68,000.

About GRAIL

GRAIL, Inc operates as a commercial-stage healthcare company, which engages in the development of a technology for early detection of cancer. It utilizes machine learning, software, and automation to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types in earlier stages. The company was founded by Jeffrey T.