Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL) Shares Up 6.8% – Should You Buy?

Grail, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) rose 6.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $26.15 and last traded at $26.54. Approximately 79,209 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 1,221,233 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Grail from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th.

Grail Stock Up 0.7 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.34.

Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($1.86) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.41) by $2.55. The company had revenue of $38.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.33 million. As a group, analysts predict that Grail, Inc. will post -15.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 2,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total value of $65,800.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 559,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,461,797.60. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 1,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $56,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,457,304. The trade was a 0.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,550 shares of company stock valued at $360,436 in the last 90 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grail

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crcm LP purchased a new position in shares of Grail during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,061,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. bought a new stake in Grail in the fourth quarter worth $53,550,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in Grail during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,118,000. Baker BROS. Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Grail during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,098,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Grail in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,902,000.

Grail Company Profile

GRAIL, Inc is a healthcare company. It engages in the development of a technology for early detection of cancer. The company was founded by Jeffrey T. Huber, William H. Rastetter, and Mostafa Ronaghi on September 11, 2015 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA.