GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• GRAIL, Inc. shares reached a new 52-week high, trading at $74.48, and the company has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for GRAIL with one "Buy," three "Hold," and one "Sell," while the average price target has increased to $56.67.
• Insiders have recently sold significant shares, with CFO Aaron Freidin and President Joshua J. Ofman reducing their holdings, totaling over $5 million in sales.

Shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $74.48 and last traded at $73.41, with a volume of 127998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GRAL shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of GRAIL in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $75.00 price target on GRAIL in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on GRAIL from $43.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.67.

GRAIL Stock Down 2.3%

The stock's fifty day moving average is $40.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.43 and a beta of 4.11.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($3.18) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $35.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.57 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that GRAIL, Inc. will post -15.15 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GRAIL news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.93, for a total value of $311,440.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 81,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total transaction of $5,086,562.50. Following the sale, the president owned 396,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,799,812.50. This represents a 17.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 103,279 shares of company stock valued at $6,152,839. Company insiders own 1.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of GRAIL

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRAL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in GRAIL by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,499,740 shares of the company's stock worth $38,303,000 after buying an additional 48,645 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in GRAIL by 61.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,163 shares of the company's stock worth $33,991,000 after acquiring an additional 506,440 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in GRAIL by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 757,770 shares of the company's stock worth $38,969,000 after purchasing an additional 285,331 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp bought a new stake in GRAIL in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,247,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of GRAIL by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 350,979 shares of the company's stock worth $18,047,000 after purchasing an additional 25,548 shares in the last quarter.

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.

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