Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday . 2,471,034 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 124% from the previous session’s volume of 1,100,854 shares.The stock last traded at $10.2770 and had previously closed at $9.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PSNL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their price target on Personalis from $6.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Personalis from $8.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Personalis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Personalis in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Personalis from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Personalis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.57.

Personalis Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $908.87 million, a P/E ratio of -11.63 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.34.

Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.04. Personalis had a negative return on equity of 38.25% and a negative net margin of 106.92%.The firm had revenue of $14.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.31 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Personalis, Inc. will post -1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Aaron Tachibana sold 103,668 shares of Personalis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total transaction of $1,117,541.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 164,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,772,857.24. The trade was a 38.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher M. Hall sold 29,612 shares of Personalis stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.99, for a total value of $266,211.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 148,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,334,889.14. This trade represents a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Personalis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Personalis by 3.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 78,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 2,395 shares in the last quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Personalis by 0.9% during the second quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 285,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Personalis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Personalis in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Personalis by 406.4% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 5,177 shares in the last quarter. 61.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.