The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases New Shares in GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 21,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of GRAIL by 15,733.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 475 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its stake in GRAIL by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in GRAIL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 160.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of GRAIL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GRAIL news, CEO Joshua J. Ofman sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total value of $425,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 397,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,775,980.42. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The sale 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, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 7,900 shares of GRAIL stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.01, for a total value of $671,579.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 253,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,514,585.83. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GRAL. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of GRAIL in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective on GRAIL from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research began coverage on GRAIL in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of GRAIL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of GRAIL in a report on Friday, June 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, GRAIL has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.78.

GRAIL Price Performance

GRAL opened at $80.62 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.84. GRAIL, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.89 and a 1-year high of $118.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.27 and a beta of 3.25.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($2.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.66) by $0.10. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 15.88% and a negative net margin of 236.95%.The business had revenue of $44.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.39 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GRAIL Profile

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.