Renaissance Technologies LLC Cuts Stake in GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its holdings in shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) by 35.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,100 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in GRAIL were worth $2,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of GRAIL by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,342,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,510,000 after purchasing an additional 993,684 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in GRAIL by 63.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,511,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,385,000 after purchasing an additional 588,647 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in GRAIL by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,827,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,418,000 after purchasing an additional 510,546 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its position in GRAIL by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 2,085,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,484,000 after buying an additional 455,208 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of GRAIL during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,874,000.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew John Partridge sold 1,491 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.08, for a total transaction of $91,070.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 163,738 shares in the company, valued at $10,001,117.04. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

GRAIL Price Performance

Shares of GRAIL stock opened at $69.48 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $66.71 and a 200 day moving average of $66.29. GRAIL, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.95 and a 52 week high of $118.84. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of -7.13 and a beta of 3.24.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($2.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.66) by $0.10. GRAIL had a negative net margin of 236.95% and a negative return on equity of 15.88%. The business had revenue of $44.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.39 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GRAL. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on GRAIL in a research note on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of GRAIL from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of GRAIL from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of GRAIL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.78.

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.