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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on GRAL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of GRAIL from $110.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of GRAIL from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on GRAIL from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. TD Cowen upgraded GRAIL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $82.00 price target on GRAIL in a report on Friday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 2,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.89, for a total value of $119,341.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 306,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,677,087.75. This trade represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 2,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.89, for a total transaction of $140,652.93. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 432,881 shares in the company, valued at $20,730,671.09. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 79,294 shares of company stock valued at $3,955,224. 1.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of GRAIL

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GRAL. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in GRAIL by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,342,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,510,000 after acquiring an additional 993,684 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 2,085,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,484,000 after purchasing an additional 455,208 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,980,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,535,000 after purchasing an additional 163,790 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,827,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,418,000 after purchasing an additional 510,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of GRAIL by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,511,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,385,000 after purchasing an additional 588,647 shares in the last quarter.

GRAIL Price Performance

GRAL opened at $48.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.33 and a beta of 5.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $81.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.30. GRAIL has a fifty-two week low of $20.44 and a fifty-two week high of $118.84.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($2.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.33) by $0.89. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 277.46% and a negative return on equity of 17.11%. The company had revenue of $43.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.33 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that GRAIL will post -15.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.