GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Trading Down 12.2% – Should You Sell?

GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL)’s stock price traded down 12.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $65.10 and last traded at $65.1210. Approximately 494,903 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 925,546 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price objective on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research started coverage on GRAIL in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised GRAIL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on GRAIL from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.78.

GRAIL Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.20 and a beta of 3.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.97 and its 200 day moving average is $66.72.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($2.56) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 253.22% and a negative return on equity of 16.42%. As a group, analysts expect that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew John Partridge sold 1,491 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.08, for a total transaction of $91,070.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 163,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,001,117.04. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRAL. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of GRAIL by 17.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 88,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 13,264 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of GRAIL by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in GRAIL by 390.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in GRAIL by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 92,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 25,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in GRAIL by 115.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 79,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,090,000 after purchasing an additional 42,675 shares during the last quarter.

About GRAIL

GRAIL, Inc (NASDAQ: GRAL) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the early detection of cancer through a multi-cancer blood test. Leveraging advances in next-generation sequencing, cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis and machine learning, GRAIL has developed the Galleri™ test, which aims to identify more than 50 types of cancer at their earliest stages. The company’s platform analyzes methylation patterns in circulating tumor DNA to pinpoint tumor presence and tissue of origin, enabling physicians to pursue timely diagnostic follow-up.

Founded in 2016 as a spin-out from Illumina, GRAIL established its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, with additional research and operations centers in the United Kingdom.