Grail, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Grail, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,640,000 shares, a drop of 21.6% from the February 13th total of 4,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 13.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Grail Trading Up 1.9 %

GRAL stock traded up $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.71. 346,943 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,219,394. Grail has a one year low of $12.33 and a one year high of $63.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.59.

Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($1.86) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.41) by $2.55. The company had revenue of $38.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.33 million. Research analysts forecast that Grail will post -15.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 1,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $56,659.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,457,304. This trade represents a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert P. Ragusa sold 7,625 shares of Grail stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.21, for a total transaction of $237,976.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 828,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,862,541.02. This represents a 0.91 % 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 worth $360,436 in the last ninety days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grail

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GRAL. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Grail during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC acquired a new position in Grail during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new position in Grail in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Grail in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Grail in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Grail from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday.

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.