GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded GRAIL from “hold” to “sell,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with an average price target of $67.78.
• GRAIL reported quarterly revenue of $44.69 million and adjusted its EPS loss to $2.56, beating analyst estimates, but the company continues to post substantial losses and analysts expect a full-year EPS loss of $10.41.
• GRAIL shares opened at $80.34, near the upper end of their 12-month range, while its CEO and CFO each sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans; meanwhile, several major institutional investors increased their positions.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of GRAIL in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Mizuho lifted their target price on GRAIL from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research began coverage on GRAIL in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of GRAIL in a report on Friday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, GRAIL has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.78.

GRAIL Trading Down 0.3%

GRAL opened at $80.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.24 and a beta of 3.25. The company's 50 day moving average is $72.54 and its 200 day moving average is $62.97. GRAIL has a 12-month low of $33.61 and a 12-month high of $118.84.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($2.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.66) by $0.10. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 236.95% and a negative return on equity of 15.88%. The company had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.39 million. As a group, analysts predict that GRAIL will post -10.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 7,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.01, for a total value of $671,579.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 253,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,514,585.83. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Joshua Ofman sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total transaction of $425,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 397,271 shares in the company, valued at $33,775,980.42. The trade was a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate 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. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 6,569.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,966,058 shares of the company's stock valued at $202,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921,588 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of GRAIL in the second quarter worth about $148,836,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in GRAIL by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,342,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,510,000 after buying an additional 993,684 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in GRAIL during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,389,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in GRAIL by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,577,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,207,000 after buying an additional 608,539 shares in 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.

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