Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 8,058 Grail, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Grail, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 8,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury purchased a new stake in Grail in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Grail in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Grail in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Grail in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in Grail in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GRAL. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Grail from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Grail from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th.

Insider Transactions at Grail

In related news, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 48,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $1,635,867.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 511,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,353,837.80. This trade represents a 8.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Aaron Freidin sold 41,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $1,396,219.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 294,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,976,098.60. This trade represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 183,398 shares of company stock worth $6,222,694 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

Grail Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of GRAL stock opened at $41.31 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.06 and a 200-day moving average of $30.00. Grail, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.33 and a 12-month high of $63.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion and a P/E ratio of -0.68.

Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported ($3.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($4.03) by $0.93. The company had revenue of $31.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.80 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Grail, Inc. will post -15.15 EPS for the current year.

About Grail

GRAIL, Inc operates as a commercial-stage healthcare company, which engages in the development of a technology for early detection of cancer. It utilizes machine learning, software, and automation to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types in earlier stages. The company was founded by Jeffrey T.