Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders purchased 3,055 GRAIL call options, 216% above the typical daily volume of 967 contracts, signaling elevated interest in potential upside.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $105 price target, while Goldman Sachs rated the stock Neutral at $60. Overall, analysts give GRAIL an average Hold rating with a $71.11 target.
• Stock and company performance: GRAIL shares fell 2% to $74.72, despite the company exceeding quarterly revenue and EPS expectations. The company remains unprofitable, with analysts forecasting a full-year loss of $10.41 per share.

GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 3,055 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 216% compared to the typical daily volume of 967 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 7,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.01, for a total value of $671,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 253,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,514,585.83. This trade represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Joshua J. Ofman sold 5,000 shares of GRAIL stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $33,775,980.42. The trade was 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of GRAIL

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 15,733.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 475 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its position in GRAIL by 59.2% during the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 465 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in GRAIL during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 160.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 585 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of GRAIL in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group began coverage on GRAIL in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on GRAIL in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on GRAIL in a research note on Friday, June 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded GRAIL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of GRAIL in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.11.

GRAIL Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of GRAIL stock traded down $1.51 during trading on Monday, hitting $74.72. 312,647 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 896,003. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.66 and a beta of 3.25. GRAIL has a 1-year low of $36.98 and a 1-year high of $118.84.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($2.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.66) by $0.10. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 236.95% and a negative return on equity of 15.88%. The business had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.39 million. Equities research analysts forecast that GRAIL will post -10.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About GRAIL

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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