GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $103.33 and last traded at $102.5880, with a volume of 955613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GRAL shares. UBS Group set a $75.00 price objective on GRAIL in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on GRAIL from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of GRAIL from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.00.

GRAIL Stock Up 19.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of -9.58 and a beta of 4.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $71.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.24.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($2.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.40) by $0.94. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 15.69% and a negative net margin of 286.43%.The firm had revenue of $36.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.83 million. On average, analysts anticipate that GRAIL, Inc. will post -15.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at GRAIL

In related news, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 6,114 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $501,409.14. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 381,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,312,894.18. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert P. Ragusa sold 7,239 shares of GRAIL stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total transaction of $498,622.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 727,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,102,485.44. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 113,295 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,888 in the last 90 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank lifted its position in GRAIL by 59.2% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 768.1% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of GRAIL in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in GRAIL during the third quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new position in GRAIL during the second quarter worth $68,000.

About GRAIL

GRAIL, Inc operates as a commercial-stage healthcare company, which engages in the development of a technology for early detection of cancer. It utilizes machine learning, software, and automation to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types in earlier stages. The company was founded by Jeffrey T.