Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) gapped down before the market opened on Monday after Craig Hallum downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $18.38, but opened at $17.01. Craig Hallum now has a $16.25 price target on the stock. Personalis shares last traded at $17.1910, with a volume of 1,219,878 shares.

PSNL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Personalis in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research cut Personalis from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Personalis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Personalis in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered Personalis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Personalis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.54.

Insider Transactions at Personalis

In related news, CFO Aaron Tachibana sold 51,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.18, for a total value of $675,488.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 198,833 shares in the company, valued at $2,620,618.94. The trade was a 20.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher M. Hall sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.15, for a total transaction of $1,315,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 235,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,103,215.90. This trade represents a 29.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. 4.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Personalis

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PSNL. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Personalis by 76.1% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,479 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Personalis during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Personalis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Personalis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Personalis by 406.4% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 5,177 shares during the last quarter. 61.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Personalis Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of -15.75 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $13.30 and a 200 day moving average of $9.68.

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

About Personalis

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.