Guggenheim Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Stock

Key Points

• Guggenheim raised its GRAIL price target from $75 to $155 and maintained a “buy” rating, implying 12.47% potential upside from the reported $137.82 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: five analysts rate GRAIL a Buy, six recommend Hold and one recommends Sell, producing a consensus Hold rating and average price target of $93.60.
• GRAIL reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with an adjusted loss of $2.56 per share versus the $2.66 consensus estimate and revenue of $44.69 million, though the company remains unprofitable and insiders sold shares worth approximately $7.5 million during the quarter.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by analysts at Guggenheim from $75.00 to $155.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Guggenheim's target price points to a potential upside of 12.47% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of GRAIL in a report on Friday, June 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on GRAIL in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on GRAIL from $96.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on GRAIL from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.60.

GRAIL Price Performance

NASDAQ GRAL traded down $2.30 on Thursday, reaching $137.82. The stock had a trading volume of 200,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 967,121. The company has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.05 and a beta of 3.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $82.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.69. GRAIL has a 1-year low of $41.50 and a 1-year high of $151.46.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $42.39 million. Research analysts predict that GRAIL will post -10.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at GRAIL

In other GRAIL news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 4,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.34, for a total value of $382,694.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 248,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,240,073.22. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Joshua Ofman sold 61,452 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.74, for a total transaction of $6,006,318.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 362,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,408,367.54. The trade was a 14.50% 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 have sold 78,452 shares of company stock worth $7,485,691 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.83% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRAL. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in GRAIL during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of GRAIL by 15,733.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 475 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of GRAIL during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 160.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 585 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of GRAIL during the 4th quarter worth $51,000.

GRAIL Company Profile

GRAIL, Inc is a healthcare company focused on developing blood-based technologies for the early detection of cancer. Its goal is to identify cancer signals before symptoms appear, when treatment may be more effective, by applying genomics, machine learning and other analytical methods to blood samples.

The company's primary product is the Galleri multi-cancer early detection test, a prescription laboratory-developed test designed to screen for signals associated with multiple types of cancer from a single blood draw.

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