VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes Position in GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems initiated a 17,150-share GRAIL position worth approximately $1.17 million in the second quarter, joining several institutional investors that increased or established stakes.
• GRAIL reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with a loss of $2.56 per share versus the $2.66 consensus estimate and revenue of $44.69 million. However, the company remains unprofitable, with a negative net margin of 236.95%.
• Shares opened at $76.23, above the analyst consensus price target of $71.11, while the overall analyst rating remains “Hold.” The CEO and CFO also sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 17,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,171,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in GRAIL by 20.5% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,577,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,207,000 after buying an additional 608,539 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of GRAIL by 6,569.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,966,058 shares of the company's stock worth $202,493,000 after acquiring an additional 2,921,588 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 73.7% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,342,684 shares of the company's stock worth $200,510,000 after acquiring an additional 993,684 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of GRAIL during the 2nd quarter worth about $148,836,000. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its position in shares of GRAIL by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 2,085,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,484,000 after acquiring an additional 455,208 shares during the period.

GRAIL Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GRAL opened at $76.23 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $73.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of -7.82 and a beta of 3.25. GRAIL, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.87 and a 1 year high of $118.84.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.39 million. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 15.88% and a negative net margin of 236.95%. As a group, analysts expect that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 7,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 253,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,514,585.83. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Joshua Ofman sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total transaction of $425,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 397,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,775,980.42. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of GRAIL in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised GRAIL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of GRAIL from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of GRAIL in a report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of GRAIL in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.11.

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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