Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Shares of Grail, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $23.26, but opened at $24.88. Grail shares last traded at $25.07, with a volume of 218,579 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Grail Price Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $32.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.57.

Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($1.86) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($4.41) by $2.55. The business had revenue of $38.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.33 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Grail, Inc. will post -15.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Grail news, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 2,109 shares of Grail stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $65,800.80. Following the transaction, the president now owns 559,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,461,797.60. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 1,816 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,170 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,550 shares of company stock valued at $360,436.

Institutional Trading of Grail

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Grail during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Grail during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new position in shares of Grail during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Grail in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Grail during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000.

About Grail

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.