GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Trading 5.9% Higher - Should You Buy?

Shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) rose 5.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $46.00 and last traded at $46.53. Approximately 172,515 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 1,261,200 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GRAL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on GRAIL from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on GRAIL from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th.

GRAIL Stock Down 2.0%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 billion and a P/E ratio of -0.79.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported ($3.10) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($4.03) by $0.93. The company had revenue of $31.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.80 million. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 17.99% and a negative net margin of 1,464.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that GRAIL, Inc. will post -15.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at GRAIL

In related news, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 48,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $1,635,867.09. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 511,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,353,837.80. This represents a 8.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert P. Ragusa sold 94,035 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $3,190,607.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 734,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,925,894.11. The trade was a 11.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 183,398 shares of company stock worth $6,222,694 over the last quarter. 1.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GRAIL

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new stake in GRAIL in the fourth quarter worth $456,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN purchased a new stake in GRAIL in the fourth quarter worth $90,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. purchased a new stake in GRAIL in the fourth quarter worth $250,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in GRAIL by 4,102.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 25,131 shares of the company's stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 24,533 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in GRAIL in the fourth quarter worth $3,278,000.

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.