GRAIL Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:GRAL)

GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 5,910 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 229% compared to the average volume of 1,799 call options.

GRAIL Stock Performance

GRAL stock traded down $5.93 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $44.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,928,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,249,473. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.53. GRAIL has a 52-week low of $20.44 and a 52-week high of $118.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of -3.97 and a beta of 4.52.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($2.44) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.33) by $0.89. The business had revenue of $43.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.33 million. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 17.58% and a negative net margin of 277.46%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that GRAIL will post -15.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of GRAIL

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in GRAIL by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of GRAIL by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 8,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 59.2% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in GRAIL by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GRAL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of GRAIL from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $82.00 price objective on GRAIL in a report on Friday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on GRAIL in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on GRAIL from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GRAIL presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.50.

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.