State Street Corp Acquires 493,621 Shares of GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL

Key Points

• State Street increased its GRAIL stake by 26.1%, purchasing 493,621 shares to own 2.39 million shares, or about 5.34% of the company. Other major institutions, including BlackRock and Baker BROS. Advisors, also raised their holdings.
• GRAIL’s Galleri cancer-detection test received a favorable but narrow FDA advisory-panel recommendation on effectiveness, bringing it closer to a final approval decision and potentially expanding the company’s commercial opportunity.
• Despite the regulatory optimism, analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $75.10 price target versus shares opening at $109.91; insiders also sold 78,452 shares worth about $7.5 million over the prior 90 days.

State Street Corp lifted its holdings in GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Free Report) by 26.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,385,514 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 493,621 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned about 5.34% of GRAIL worth $162,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,577,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,207,000 after acquiring an additional 608,539 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP increased its stake in GRAIL by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 2,085,333 shares of the company's stock worth $178,484,000 after acquiring an additional 455,208 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in GRAIL during the second quarter valued at approximately $148,836,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in GRAIL by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 801,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,609,000 after purchasing an additional 71,253 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of GRAIL in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,389,000.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Joshua Ofman sold 61,452 shares of GRAIL stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.74, for a total transaction of $6,006,318.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 362,271 shares in the company, valued at $35,408,367.54. This trade represents a 14.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $671,579.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 253,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,514,585.83. This trade represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 78,452 shares of company stock worth $7,485,691 in the last ninety days. 1.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GRAL. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on GRAIL in a report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on GRAIL in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. UBS Group set a $84.00 price objective on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of GRAIL from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.10.

GRAIL News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting GRAIL this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FDA advisers backed Galleri’s safety and narrowly endorsed the evidence supporting its effectiveness. The panel’s recommendation improves the test’s prospects for FDA approval, although the vote was not an unequivocal endorsement. FDA advisers back safety of Grail's cancer test, narrowly endorses efficacy
• Positive Sentiment: The FDA advisory committee’s vote moves Galleri closer to a final premarket-approval decision, which is expected in the coming months. Approval would substantially expand GRAIL’s commercial opportunity and validate its technology. Grail's Multi-Cancer Blood Test Gets FDA Committee Vote for Premarket Approval
• Positive Sentiment: GRAIL reported findings from its PATHFINDER 2 study, providing additional clinical evidence for Galleri as investors assess the test’s potential ahead of the FDA decision. GRAIL Reports PATHFINDER 2 Study Findings
• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird raised its price target to $118 from $96 and maintained an “outperform” rating, reflecting increased confidence in Galleri’s regulatory outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading was temporarily halted pending news before the FDA advisory meeting, highlighting the importance of the regulatory announcement and likely contributing to heightened volatility. Grail Trading Halted Ahead of FDA AdCom Meeting
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a “hold” rating, signaling limited conviction that the recent rally fully reflects GRAIL’s near-term upside. GRAIL Gets a Hold from Goldman Sachs
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Joshua Ofman and CFO Aaron Freidin sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. The sales are less concerning than discretionary insider selling, but may still weigh modestly on sentiment.

GRAIL Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GRAL opened at $109.91 on Thursday. GRAIL, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.50 and a fifty-two week high of $118.84. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.27 and a beta of 3.25. The business's 50 day moving average price is $76.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.72.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($2.56) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.66) by $0.10. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 15.88% and a negative net margin of 236.95%.The company had revenue of $44.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.39 million. Sell-side analysts predict that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.41 earnings per share for the current year.

GRAIL Company Profile

GRAIL, Inc is a healthcare company focused on developing blood-based tests for the early detection of cancer. Its technology uses genomic and epigenomic signals, including patterns of DNA methylation, to identify signals associated with multiple cancer types from a single blood sample.

The company's primary product is Galleri, a prescription blood test designed to screen for signals of more than 50 types of cancer, including cancers that currently lack recommended screening methods. Galleri is intended to complement, not replace, guideline-recommended cancer screenings, and a positive result requires follow-up diagnostic testing to determine whether cancer is present and where it may be located.

GRAIL was founded in 2016 as a subsidiary of Illumina and became an independent publicly traded company following its separation from Illumina in 2021.

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