GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• GRAIL shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $151.46 and last at $140.12, giving the company a market capitalization of about $6.26 billion.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Canaccord raised its price target to $150 and maintained a Buy rating, but the overall consensus remains Hold with an average target of $85.60.
• GRAIL exceeded quarterly expectations with revenue of $44.69 million and an adjusted loss of $2.56 per share, though it remains unprofitable; insiders have sold 78,452 shares worth approximately $7.5 million over the past 90 days.

Shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company traded as high as $151.46 and last traded at $140.12, with a volume of 1920136 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $136.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GRAL shares. UBS Group set a $84.00 price objective on GRAIL in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen raised GRAIL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, September 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on GRAIL from $80.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of GRAIL in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.60.

GRAIL Stock Up 2.6%

The stock has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.37 and a beta of 3.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $82.36 and a 200-day moving average of $67.69.

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

Insider Activity at GRAIL

In other GRAIL news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 7,900 shares of GRAIL stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 253,083 shares in the company, valued at $21,514,585.83. The trade was a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Joshua Ofman sold 61,452 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.74, for a total transaction of $6,006,318.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 362,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,408,367.54. This represents a 14.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,452 shares of company stock worth $7,485,691. Insiders own 1.83% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GRAIL

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its position in GRAIL by 6.9% during the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,881 shares of the company's stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of GRAIL in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 160.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 585 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 127,774 shares of the company's stock worth $8,723,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter.

About GRAIL

GRAIL, Inc is a healthcare company focused on developing blood-based technologies for the early detection of cancer. Its goal is to identify cancer signals before symptoms appear, when treatment may be more effective, by applying genomics, machine learning and other analytical methods to blood samples.

The company's primary product is the Galleri multi-cancer early detection test, a prescription laboratory-developed test designed to screen for signals associated with multiple types of cancer from a single blood draw.

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