100,638 Shares in GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group bought 100,638 GRAIL shares worth approximately $6.87 million, representing about 0.23% of the company. Several other institutional investors also initiated positions during the second quarter.
• GRAIL shares opened at $80.56, up 1%, with a market capitalization of roughly $3.6 billion. The company beat quarterly expectations with a loss of $2.56 per share and revenue of $44.69 million, but remains unprofitable.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $67.78, below the current share price. CEO Joshua Ofman and CFO Aaron Freidin recently sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 100,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,871,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.23% of GRAIL as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in GRAIL in the 2nd quarter worth $1,474,000. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of GRAIL in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $284,000. Commerce Bank bought a new position in shares of GRAIL in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,842,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of GRAIL in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $886,000. Finally, Green Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of GRAIL in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $355,000.

GRAIL Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of GRAIL stock opened at $80.56 on Thursday. GRAIL, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.75 and a twelve month high of $118.84. The company's 50 day moving average is $71.97 and its 200 day moving average is $62.96. The company has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.26 and a beta of 3.25.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($2.56) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.66) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.39 million. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 236.95% and a negative return on equity of 15.88%. Sell-side analysts expect that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GRAL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on GRAIL in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of GRAIL from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of GRAIL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on GRAIL from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on GRAIL in a research note on Friday, June 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Four investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $67.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GRAIL news, CEO Joshua J. Ofman sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total value of $425,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 397,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,775,980.42. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 7,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.01, for a total value of $671,579.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 253,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,514,585.83. This represents a 3.03% 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. Company insiders own 1.83% of the company's stock.

About GRAIL

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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