GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on GRAIL in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho lifted their target price on GRAIL from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on GRAIL in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.78.

GRAIL Stock Down 0.3%

GRAL stock opened at $80.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of -8.24 and a beta of 3.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.97. GRAIL has a fifty-two week low of $33.61 and a fifty-two week high of $118.84.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($2.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.66) by $0.10. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 236.95% and a negative return on equity of 15.88%. The firm had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.39 million. Equities analysts forecast that GRAIL will post -10.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 7,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.01, for a total transaction of $671,579.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 253,083 shares in the company, valued at $21,514,585.83. This trade represents a 3.03% 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, CEO Joshua Ofman sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total value of $425,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 397,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,775,980.42. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in GRAIL by 15,733.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of GRAIL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in GRAIL by 160.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in GRAIL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000.

GRAIL Company Profile

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.