Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $17.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. 1,552,021 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the previous session’s volume of 2,378,962 shares.The stock last traded at $16.0710 and had previously closed at $15.58.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on PSNL. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Personalis in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Personalis from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Personalis in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Personalis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, BTIG Research cut their price objective on shares of Personalis from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Personalis news, CEO Christopher M. Hall sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.08, for a total transaction of $1,508,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 235,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,558,668.88. This represents a 29.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Aaron Tachibana sold 4,982 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $69,748.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 198,833 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,662. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 435,032 shares of company stock valued at $5,599,929 over the last quarter. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in Personalis by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 3,249,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,869,000 after purchasing an additional 861,948 shares during the last quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Personalis by 65.5% during the fourth quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 547,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 216,442 shares during the last quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Personalis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,970,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in shares of Personalis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,158,000. Finally, Nano Cap New Millennium Growth Fund L P acquired a new stake in shares of Personalis in the fourth quarter worth $2,308,000. 61.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Personalis Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $10.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.75 and a beta of 2.24.

Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $15.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.48 million. Personalis had a negative net margin of 148.11% and a negative return on equity of 43.52%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Personalis, Inc. will post -1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Personalis

Personalis, Inc (NASDAQ: PSNL) is a clinical‐stage genomics company that develops and markets advanced next‐generation sequencing (NGS) services and assays designed to accelerate precision medicine. The Company’s core offering is the ImmunoID NeXT™ Platform, which combines comprehensive tumor profiling—including whole exome, transcriptome, and T‐cell receptor sequencing—with proprietary bioinformatics to identify biomarkers and guide immuno‐oncology research. Personalis serves biopharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and clinical research organizations seeking in‐depth insights into cancer, autoimmune diseases and other complex conditions.

In addition to its flagship ImmunoID NeXT™ Platform, Personalis offers a suite of customizable sequencing assays for biomarker discovery, clinical trial support and companion diagnostic development.