GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL Shares Acquired by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. dramatically increased its GRAIL stake in the fourth quarter, raising its holdings to 91,132 shares worth about $7.5 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted positions, while analysts remain mixed: the stock’s consensus rating is “Hold” with a consensus target price of $67.88.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including the CFO and president, even as GRAIL reported quarterly earnings that beat estimates and revenue that came in above expectations.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Free Report) by 154,361.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,132 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 91,073 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned 0.23% of GRAIL worth $7,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GRAL. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of GRAIL by 168.7% during the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,349,000 shares of the company's stock worth $79,766,000 after acquiring an additional 847,000 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of GRAIL by 121.0% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 335,365 shares of the company's stock worth $19,830,000 after acquiring an additional 183,611 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of GRAIL by 145.9% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 294,835 shares of the company's stock worth $17,434,000 after acquiring an additional 174,959 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of GRAIL by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,980,783 shares of the company's stock worth $169,535,000 after acquiring an additional 163,790 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of GRAIL by 259.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 218,671 shares of the company's stock worth $11,244,000 after acquiring an additional 157,780 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRAL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of GRAIL from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of GRAIL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of GRAIL from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of GRAIL from $110.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 45,806 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.92, for a total value of $2,286,635.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 260,669 shares in the company, valued at $13,012,596.48. This represents a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 61,665 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.92, for a total transaction of $3,078,316.80. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 371,216 shares in the company, valued at $18,531,102.72. This represents a 14.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 310,267 shares of company stock worth $15,485,396 over the last ninety days. 1.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

GRAIL Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GRAL opened at $67.19 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $53.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.65. GRAIL, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.95 and a twelve month high of $118.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.48 and a beta of 3.03.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($2.29) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.76) by $0.47. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 253.22% and a negative return on equity of 16.42%. The company had revenue of $40.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.16 million. Analysts predict that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.91 EPS for the current year.

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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