AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 506,440 Shares of GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Free Report) by 61.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,337,163 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 506,440 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 3.79% of GRAIL worth $33,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. S.A. Mason LLC increased its holdings in GRAIL by 50.1% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in GRAIL by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,591 shares of the company's stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in GRAIL by 187.7% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,430 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. bought a new stake in GRAIL during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in GRAIL by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter.

GRAIL Trading Down 5.6%

NASDAQ GRAL traded down $2.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $35.42. 868,957 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,306,467. GRAIL, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.33 and a 52 week high of $63.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.70 and a beta of 3.18. The business's fifty day moving average price is $36.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.60.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($3.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.14) by ($0.04). GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 16.64% and a negative net margin of 329.86%.The business had revenue of $35.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.57 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that GRAIL, Inc. will post -15.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on GRAIL from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, GRAIL currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Insider Activity at GRAIL

In other news, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 9,692 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $503,984.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 492,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,587,952. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.93, for a total transaction of $311,440.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 286,020 shares in the company, valued at $11,134,758.60. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 361,694 shares of company stock worth $17,780,266.

GRAIL Profile

GRAIL, Inc operates as a commercial-stage healthcare company, which engages in the development of a technology for early detection of cancer. It utilizes machine learning, software, and automation to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types in earlier stages. The company was founded by Jeffrey T.