Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) Trading Up 8.7% – What’s Next?

Shares of Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) shot up 8.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $18.40 and last traded at $18.35. 2,419,398 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average daily volume of 2,638,447 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Personalis in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Personalis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Personalis in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research cut shares of Personalis from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Personalis from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Personalis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.25.

Personalis Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.99 and a beta of 2.27.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Aaron Tachibana sold 51,251 shares of Personalis 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 198,833 shares in the company, valued at $2,620,618.94. This trade represents a 20.49% 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, CEO Christopher M. Hall sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.15, for a total value of $1,315,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 235,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,103,215.90. The trade was a 29.76% 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 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Personalis

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Personalis by 76.1% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,479 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Personalis in the second quarter valued at $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Personalis in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Personalis by 406.4% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 5,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Personalis during the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.91% of the company’s stock.

About Personalis

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.