GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 6,297,057 shares, a growth of 15.3% from the February 12th total of 5,463,389 shares. Approximately 16.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,336,820 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Based on an average daily volume of 3,336,820 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 16.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on GRAL. Guggenheim upped their price target on GRAIL from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on GRAIL from $110.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $82.00 price target on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.17.

GRAIL Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GRAL opened at $47.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of -4.24 and a beta of 5.21. GRAIL has a twelve month low of $20.44 and a twelve month high of $118.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.51.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($2.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.33) by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $43.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.33 million. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 17.11% and a negative net margin of 277.46%. On average, equities analysts predict that GRAIL will post -15.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 2,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.89, for a total value of $119,341.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 306,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,677,087.75. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert P. Ragusa sold 7,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.89, for a total value of $357,307.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 642,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,749,402.76. The trade was a 1.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 79,294 shares of company stock valued at $3,955,224 in the last 90 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in GRAIL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in GRAIL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in GRAIL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Comerica Bank boosted its position in GRAIL by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of GRAIL in the fourth quarter worth $44,000.

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.