GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL – Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 3,055 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 216% compared to the average volume of 967 call options.
Insider Transactions at GRAIL
In other GRAIL news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 7,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.01, for a total value of $671,579.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 253,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,514,585.83. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Joshua Ofman sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total transaction of $425,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 397,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,775,980.42. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Trading of GRAIL
A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GRAL. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 4,498 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in GRAIL in the second quarter valued at about $82,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in GRAIL by 8.6% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the period. Nykredit A S bought a new position in GRAIL in the 2nd quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of GRAIL by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,769,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter.
GRAIL Stock Down 2.0%
GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($2.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.66) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.39 million. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 15.88% and a negative net margin of 236.95%. Analysts forecast that GRAIL will post -10.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
GRAL has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on GRAIL in a report on Friday, June 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on GRAIL in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded GRAIL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. UBS Group assumed coverage on GRAIL in a report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of GRAIL from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.11.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on GRAL
GRAIL Company Profile
GRAIL, Inc is a healthcare company focused on developing blood-based tests for the early detection of cancer. Its technology uses genomic and epigenomic signals, including patterns of DNA methylation, to identify signals associated with multiple cancer types from a single blood sample.
The company’s primary product is Galleri, a prescription blood test designed to screen for signals of more than 50 types of cancer, including cancers that currently lack recommended screening methods. Galleri is intended to complement, not replace, guideline-recommended cancer screenings, and a positive result requires follow-up diagnostic testing to determine whether cancer is present and where it may be located.
GRAIL was founded in 2016 as a subsidiary of Illumina and became an independent publicly traded company following its separation from Illumina in 2021.
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