GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $71.68, but opened at $58.83. GRAIL shares last traded at $58.5440, with a volume of 510,642 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GRAL shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of GRAIL from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of GRAIL in a report on Friday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of GRAIL in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of GRAIL from $130.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 target price on shares of GRAIL in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.88.

GRAIL Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.78 and a beta of 3.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.02.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($2.29) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.76) by $0.47. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 253.22% and a negative return on equity of 16.42%. The business had revenue of $40.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.16 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at GRAIL

In other news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 45,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.92, for a total transaction of $2,286,635.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 260,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,012,596.48. The trade was a 14.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 61,665 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.92, for a total value of $3,078,316.80. Following the sale, the president owned 371,216 shares in the company, valued at $18,531,102.72. The trade was a 14.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 246,188 shares of company stock worth $12,270,723. Insiders own 1.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GRAIL

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GRAL. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of GRAIL by 17.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 88,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 13,264 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of GRAIL by 28.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of GRAIL by 390.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of GRAIL by 37.4% during 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 worth $2,362,000 after acquiring an additional 25,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of GRAIL by 115.7% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 79,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,090,000 after acquiring an additional 42,675 shares during the last quarter.

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.