GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) Raised to Buy at TD Cowen

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) was upgraded by research analysts at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $65.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen’s target price suggests a potential upside of 37.22% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on GRAIL from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on GRAIL from $110.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on GRAIL from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $82.00 target price on GRAIL in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GRAIL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.00.

GRAIL Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of GRAL stock opened at $47.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.24 and a beta of 5.21. GRAIL has a 12-month low of $20.44 and a 12-month high of $118.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.51.

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

Insider Activity at GRAIL

In related news, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 2,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.89, for a total value of $140,652.93. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 432,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,730,671.09. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert P. Ragusa sold 7,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.89, for a total transaction of $357,307.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 642,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,749,402.76. This trade represents a 1.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 79,294 shares of company stock valued at $3,955,224 over the last quarter.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GRAIL

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in GRAIL by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in GRAIL by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC lifted its position in GRAIL by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 8,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its position in GRAIL by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 180 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.