Grail, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Grail, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,810,000 shares, an increase of 38.6% from the March 15th total of 3,470,000 shares. Currently, 17.5% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Grail news, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 2,109 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 value of $65,800.80. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 559,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,461,797.60. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert P. Ragusa sold 7,625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.21, for a total value of $237,976.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 828,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,862,541.02. This trade represents a 0.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,550 shares of company stock worth $360,436.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grail

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crcm LP acquired a new stake in shares of Grail in the 4th quarter worth about $65,061,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Grail in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,550,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of Grail during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,118,000. Baker BROS. Advisors LP bought a new position in Grail in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,098,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Grail during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,902,000.

Grail Trading Up 17.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ GRAL traded up $5.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,413,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,731. Grail has a 1-year low of $12.33 and a 1-year high of $63.99. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $32.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.85.

Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($1.86) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.41) by $2.55. The company had revenue of $38.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.33 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Grail will post -15.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GRAL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on Grail in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Grail from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th.

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.