Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 48,645 Shares of GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in GRAIL, Inc. by 3.4% in the first quarter, owning approximately 4.25% of the company, valued at $38.3 million.
• Canaccord Genuity Group raised GRAIL's target price from $32.00 to $43.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating, reflecting positive investor sentiment.
• GRAIL reported a quarterly loss of ($3.18) earnings per share, missing estimates, with revenues of $35.54 million against an estimate of $37.57 million.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,499,740 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,645 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 4.25% of GRAIL worth $38,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. S.A. Mason LLC grew its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 50.1% during the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. bought a new stake in GRAIL in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in GRAIL by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,085 shares of the company's stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in GRAIL by 273.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 4,202 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.02, for a total value of $134,548.04. Following the transaction, the president owned 487,874 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,621,725.48. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 286,020 shares in the company, valued at $11,134,758.60. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 361,694 shares of company stock worth $17,780,266 in the last three months.

GRAIL Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of GRAL stock traded down $1.32 during trading on Monday, reaching $32.79. 693,949 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 774,663. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.50 and a beta of 3.20. The firm's 50-day moving average is $37.81 and its 200 day moving average is $36.08. GRAIL, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.33 and a 1 year high of $63.99.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($3.18) earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $35.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.57 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that GRAIL, Inc. will post -15.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of GRAIL from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the company 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, GRAIL presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.50.

About GRAIL

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.