Merck & Co. Inc. Purchases New Position in Personalis, Inc. $PSNL

Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,044,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $188,202,236,000. Personalis accounts for about 35.8% of Merck & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Merck & Co. Inc. owned 13.41% of Personalis as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Personalis by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,066,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,791,000 after purchasing an additional 83,074 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Personalis by 148.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 139,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 83,040 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Personalis by 65.5% in the 4th quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 547,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 216,442 shares during the period. Next Century Growth Investors LLC purchased a new position in Personalis during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,970,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in Personalis during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,158,000. 61.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Personalis

In related news, CEO Christopher M. Hall sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.08, for a total value of $1,508,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 235,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,558,668.88. This represents a 29.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Tachibana sold 4,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $69,748.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 198,833 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,662. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 435,032 shares of company stock worth $5,599,929. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Personalis Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PSNL opened at $13.89 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $12.77 and a 200-day moving average of $9.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.74 and a beta of 2.27. Personalis, Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.44 and a 12 month high of $16.39.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Personalis in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Personalis in a report on Friday, July 17th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Personalis from $11.00 to $16.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Personalis from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Personalis from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.25.

Personalis 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.