GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Trading Up 8.4% – Still a Buy?

GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL)’s stock price was up 8.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $105.98 and last traded at $104.85. Approximately 439,831 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 674,593 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GRAL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of GRAIL from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on GRAIL from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Guggenheim raised GRAIL from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group set a $75.00 price target on GRAIL in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.50.

GRAIL Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.71 and a beta of 4.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.14.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GRAIL

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GRAL. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in GRAIL by 168.7% during the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,349,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,766,000 after acquiring an additional 847,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 757,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,969,000 after purchasing an additional 285,331 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of GRAIL by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 360,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,314,000 after purchasing an additional 126,738 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of GRAIL by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 350,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,047,000 after purchasing an additional 25,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in GRAIL by 121.0% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 335,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,830,000 after purchasing an additional 183,611 shares during the period.

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.