Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 163,790 Shares of GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL

Key Points

• Vanguard Group increased its GRAIL stake by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, adding 163,790 shares to reach 1,980,783 shares. The position was valued at about $169.5 million, or roughly 5.08% of the company.
• GRAIL’s latest quarterly results topped expectations, with EPS of -$2.29 versus estimates of -$2.76 and revenue of $40.79 million versus forecasts of $39.16 million. Analysts still expect the company to post a full-year loss of $11.09 per share.
• Wall Street remains cautious overall: the stock has a Hold consensus rating with a consensus price target of $67.88. Insider selling has also been notable, with the CFO and president each trimming large portions of their holdings in April.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Free Report) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,980,783 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 163,790 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 5.08% of GRAIL worth $169,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in GRAIL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Comerica Bank grew its stake in GRAIL by 59.2% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 465 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in GRAIL in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in GRAIL in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in GRAIL by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on GRAIL from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price objective on GRAIL in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim cut their price objective on GRAIL from $130.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on GRAIL from $110.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.88.

GRAIL Price Performance

GRAL opened at $61.64 on Monday. GRAIL, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.95 and a 12-month high of $118.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.94 and a beta of 3.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.05 and a 200-day moving average of $78.44.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($2.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.76) by $0.47. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 16.42% and a negative net margin of 253.22%.The company had revenue of $40.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.16 million. As a group, analysts expect that GRAIL, Inc. will post -11.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 45,806 shares of GRAIL stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.92, for a total transaction of $2,286,635.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 260,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,012,596.48. This trade represents a 14.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 61,665 shares of GRAIL stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.92, for a total value of $3,078,316.80. Following the sale, the president directly owned 371,216 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,531,102.72. The trade was a 14.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 310,267 shares of company stock valued at $15,485,396 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.83% of the company's stock.

GRAIL Profile

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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