GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• GRAIL shares reached a new 52-week high of $166.48 before retreating to $137.28, down 10.9% during trading. Despite recent price-target increases, analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $102.70 target price.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting an adjusted loss of $2.56 per share versus the estimated $2.66 loss and revenue of $44.69 million against a $42.39 million forecast. However, GRAIL remains unprofitable, with a negative net margin of 236.95%.
• Insiders sold 78,452 shares worth approximately $7.5 million over the past 90 days, including sales by the CEO and CFO under pre-arranged trading plans.

GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $166.48 and last traded at $137.28, with a volume of 2028680 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $154.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GRAL. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on GRAIL from $80.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on GRAIL from $96.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of GRAIL in a report on Thursday, September 17th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of GRAIL from $65.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of GRAIL in a report on Friday, July 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.70.

GRAIL Trading Down 10.9%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.39. The stock has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.08 and a beta of 2.83.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $42.39 million. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 15.88% and a negative net margin of 236.95%. Equities analysts forecast that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at GRAIL

In other news, CEO Joshua J. Ofman sold 61,452 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.74, for a total transaction of $6,006,318.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 362,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,408,367.54. This trade represents a 14.50% decrease in their position. The sale 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, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 4,100 shares of GRAIL stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.34, for a total transaction of $382,694.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 248,983 shares in the company, valued at $23,240,073.22. This trade represents a 1.62% 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. Insiders sold a total of 78,452 shares of company stock worth $7,485,691 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.83% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in GRAIL by 1.3% during the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 13,478 shares of the company's stock worth $1,889,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its stake in GRAIL by 6.9% in the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in GRAIL in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in GRAIL by 160.0% in the 1st 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, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in GRAIL by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 127,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,723,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the last quarter.

GRAIL Company Profile

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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