GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL Position Lessened by Sessa Capital IM L.P.

Key Points

• Sessa Capital IM L.P. has reduced its stake in GRAIL, Inc. by 36.1%, now holding 1,918,276 shares, making up 1.9% of its portfolio.
• For Q2, GRAIL reported a loss of ($3.18) EPS, missing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $35.54 million.
• GRAIL's stock has seen significant insider activity, with major shareholder Chun R. Ding selling 339,800 shares at an average price of $49.53.

Sessa Capital IM L.P. cut its stake in shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Free Report) by 36.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,918,276 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,081,724 shares during the quarter. GRAIL accounts for 1.9% of Sessa Capital IM L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Sessa Capital IM L.P. owned 5.43% of GRAIL worth $48,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 50.1% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in GRAIL by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,835 shares of the company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 623 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 during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in GRAIL by 187.7% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,430 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. acquired a new position in GRAIL in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000.

GRAIL Price Performance

GRAIL stock traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.53. The stock had a trading volume of 530,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 750,387. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $36.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.60. GRAIL, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.33 and a twelve month high of $63.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 3.18.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.93, for a total transaction of $311,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 286,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,134,758.60. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 4,202 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.02, for a total value of $134,548.04. Following the sale, the president owned 487,874 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,621,725.48. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 361,694 shares of company stock worth $17,780,266.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of GRAIL from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.50.

GRAIL Company 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.