GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,291,529 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the previous session’s volume of 1,220,625 shares.The stock last traded at $43.9680 and had previously closed at $50.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of GRAIL from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on GRAIL in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim boosted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on GRAIL from $110.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, GRAIL presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.17.

GRAIL Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.73. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.63 and a beta of 4.52.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($2.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.33) by $0.89. The business had revenue of $43.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.33 million. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 277.46% and a negative return on equity of 17.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that GRAIL, Inc. will post -15.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GRAIL

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GRAL. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in GRAIL by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 88,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 13,264 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of GRAIL by 28.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 390.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 37.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 92,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 25,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of GRAIL during the second quarter valued at approximately $222,000.

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.