Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Personalis shares fell after Craig Hallum downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold, opening at $17.01 versus a prior close of $18.38. The firm set a $16.25 price target, while the broader analyst consensus is Hold with a $14.54 target.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: four analysts rate Personalis Buy, four Hold and two Sell. Recent downgrades include Lake Street Capital and Zacks Research, while TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating.
• Company insiders sold substantial shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, including 100,000 shares sold by the CEO and 51,251 by the CFO; insiders sold $5.6 million worth of stock during the last quarter. Personalis also reported a quarterly EPS loss of $0.30, missing estimates, despite revenue exceeding expectations.

Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Monday after Craig Hallum downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $18.38, but opened at $17.01. Craig Hallum now has a $16.25 price target on the stock. Personalis shares last traded at $17.1910, with a volume of 1,219,878 shares trading hands.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Personalis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $16.25 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Personalis in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Personalis from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Personalis in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Personalis from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Personalis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.54.

Insider Transactions at Personalis

In other news, CEO Christopher M. Hall sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.15, for a total transaction of $1,315,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 235,986 shares in the company, valued at $3,103,215.90. The trade was a 29.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Aaron Tachibana sold 51,251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.18, for a total transaction of $675,488.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 198,833 shares in the company, valued at $2,620,618.94. This represents a 20.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 435,032 shares of company stock worth $5,599,929 in the last quarter. 4.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Personalis

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Personalis by 76.1% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,423 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,479 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Personalis during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Personalis during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Personalis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Personalis by 406.4% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 5,177 shares in the last quarter. 61.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Personalis Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.75 and a beta of 2.27. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $13.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.68.

Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.26) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $22.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.69 million. Personalis had a negative return on equity of 46.47% and a negative net margin of 153.84%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Personalis, Inc. will post -1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Personalis Company Profile

Personalis, Inc NASDAQ: PSNL is a clinical‐stage genomics company that develops and markets advanced next‐generation sequencing (NGS) services and assays designed to accelerate precision medicine. The Company's core offering is the ImmunoID NeXT™ Platform, which combines comprehensive tumor profiling—including whole exome, transcriptome, and T‐cell receptor sequencing—with proprietary bioinformatics to identify biomarkers and guide immuno‐oncology research. Personalis serves biopharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and clinical research organizations seeking in‐depth insights into cancer, autoimmune diseases and other complex conditions.

In addition to its flagship ImmunoID NeXT™ Platform, Personalis offers a suite of customizable sequencing assays for biomarker discovery, clinical trial support and companion diagnostic development.

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