VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases New Stake in GRAIL, Inc. $GRAL

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,171,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in GRAIL by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,577,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,207,000 after buying an additional 608,539 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 6,569.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,966,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,493,000 after acquiring an additional 2,921,588 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of GRAIL by 73.7% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,342,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,510,000 after acquiring an additional 993,684 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of GRAIL during the 2nd quarter valued at about $148,836,000. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of GRAIL by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 2,085,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,484,000 after acquiring an additional 455,208 shares during the last quarter.

GRAIL Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ GRAL opened at $76.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of -7.82 and a beta of 3.25. GRAIL, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.87 and a twelve month high of $118.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.55.

GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($2.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.66) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.39 million. GRAIL had a negative return on equity of 15.88% and a negative net margin of 236.95%. Research analysts predict that GRAIL, Inc. will post -10.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of GRAIL in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GRAIL in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of GRAIL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of GRAIL in a report on Friday, June 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of GRAIL from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.11.

About GRAIL

GRAIL, Inc is a healthcare company focused on developing blood-based tests for the early detection of cancer. Its technology uses genomic and epigenomic signals, including patterns of DNA methylation, to identify signals associated with multiple cancer types from a single blood sample.

The company’s primary product is Galleri, a prescription blood test designed to screen for signals of more than 50 types of cancer, including cancers that currently lack recommended screening methods. Galleri is intended to complement, not replace, guideline-recommended cancer screenings, and a positive result requires follow-up diagnostic testing to determine whether cancer is present and where it may be located.

GRAIL was founded in 2016 as a subsidiary of Illumina and became an independent publicly traded company following its separation from Illumina in 2021.