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

Key Points

• Piper Sandler raised its GRAIL price target from $74 to $130 but maintained a neutral rating; the new target implies just 1.5% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst opinion remains mixed: five analysts rate the stock a buy, six a hold, and one a sell, for an overall “Hold” consensus and an average target of $128.80.
• GRAIL’s latest quarterly loss per share was narrower than expected, but revenue of $37.53 million fell short of forecasts of $44.21 million.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $74.00 to $130.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler's price objective suggests a potential upside of 1.50% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of GRAIL from $105.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of GRAIL from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of GRAIL from $80.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of GRAIL from $96.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.80.

GRAIL Stock Up 5.5%

GRAL opened at $128.08 on Tuesday. GRAIL has a fifty-two week low of $41.50 and a fifty-two week high of $166.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $118.11 and a 200-day moving average of $79.46.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported ($2.21) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.45) by $0.24. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 15.99% and a negative net margin of 243.80%. The business had revenue of $37.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.21 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that GRAIL will post -10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GRAIL news, CEO Joshua J. Ofman sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.85, for a total transaction of $2,737,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 342,271 shares in the company, valued at $46,839,786.35. This trade represents a 5.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Andrew Partridge sold 7,873 shares of GRAIL stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.39, for a total transaction of $1,152,528.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 155,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,817,077.35. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,944 shares of company stock worth $14,832,805. 1.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in GRAIL by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,577,075 shares of the company's stock worth $244,207,000 after acquiring an additional 608,539 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in GRAIL by 26.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,385,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $162,859,000 after acquiring an additional 493,621 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in GRAIL during the second quarter valued at about $148,836,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of GRAIL in the second quarter valued at about $49,389,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of GRAIL by 25.6% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 288,249 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,389,000 after purchasing an additional 58,746 shares during the last quarter.

GRAIL Company Profile

GRAIL, Inc is a healthcare company developing blood-based tests for the early detection of multiple cancers. Its approach analyzes patterns in cell-free DNA, including DNA methylation signals, to help identify a possible cancer signal and predict its origin in the body.

GRAIL's flagship product is Galleri, a multi-cancer early detection test intended for use alongside—not as a replacement for—recommended cancer screening. The company also conducts clinical research to evaluate the test and advance its early-detection technology.

Founded in 2016 as a spinout of Illumina, GRAIL became part of Illumina in 2021 and returned to independent operation in 2024.

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