GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,291,529 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the previous session’s volume of 1,220,625 shares.The stock last traded at $43.9680 and had previously closed at $50.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GRAL. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of GRAIL from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on GRAIL from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $82.00 price objective on shares of GRAIL in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GRAIL has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.50.

GRAIL Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.53. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 4.52.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($2.44) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.33) by $0.89. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 277.46% and a negative return on equity of 17.58%. The business had revenue of $43.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.33 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that GRAIL, Inc. will post -15.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of GRAIL

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in GRAIL by 73.7% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,342,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,510,000 after purchasing an additional 993,684 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its holdings in GRAIL by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 2,085,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,484,000 after acquiring an additional 455,208 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,980,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,535,000 after purchasing an additional 163,790 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of GRAIL by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,827,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,418,000 after purchasing an additional 510,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of GRAIL by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,511,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,385,000 after purchasing an additional 588,647 shares during the last quarter.

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.