Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Analysts

Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.54.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PSNL shares. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Personalis from $11.00 to $16.25 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research raised Personalis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 7th. Lake Street Capital cut Personalis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $16.25 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Personalis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum downgraded Personalis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $16.25 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, August 24th.

Personalis Stock Performance

Shares of Personalis stock opened at $16.28 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.40. Personalis has a one year low of $4.95 and a one year high of $18.89. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of -14.94 and a beta of 2.32.

Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by ($0.04). Personalis had a negative net margin of 153.84% and a negative return on equity of 46.47%. The firm had revenue of $22.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.69 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Personalis will post -1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Aaron Tachibana sold 2,931 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.22, for a total value of $47,540.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 195,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,530.44. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Christopher M. Hall sold 7,459 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.22, for a total transaction of $120,984.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 228,527 shares in the company, valued at $3,706,707.94. This represents a 3.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 116,456 shares of company stock worth $1,774,916 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Personalis

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PSNL. Merck & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Personalis in the 2nd quarter valued at $188,202,236. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Personalis in the second quarter valued at $94,905,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Personalis in the second quarter valued at $24,395,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Personalis during the second quarter worth about $22,981,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Personalis by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,066,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,791,000 after purchasing an additional 83,074 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.91% of the company’s stock.

Personalis Company Profile

Personalis, Inc is a genomics company focused on precision oncology and advanced genetic testing. The company develops and commercializes molecular diagnostic products designed to help identify cancer-related genomic changes, monitor disease progression and support treatment decisions.

Its product portfolio includes the NeXT platform, which is used to analyze tumor and blood samples. Offerings have included tissue-based profiling, liquid biopsy testing and personalized minimal residual disease monitoring intended to detect small amounts of cancer remaining after treatment or to identify signs of recurrence.