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

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Grail, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GRAL. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Grail during the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Grail during the fourth quarter valued at $259,000. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in Grail during the fourth quarter valued at $475,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Grail during the fourth quarter valued at $244,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers bought a new stake in Grail during the fourth quarter valued at $456,000.

Grail Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GRAL opened at $41.31 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $35.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.00. Grail, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.33 and a 1-year high of $63.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion and a P/E ratio of -0.68.

Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported ($3.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.03) by $0.93. The company had revenue of $31.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.80 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Grail, Inc. will post -15.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert P. Ragusa sold 94,035 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $3,190,607.55. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 734,627 shares in the company, valued at $24,925,894.11. This represents a 11.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Joshua J. Ofman sold 48,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $1,635,867.09. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 511,460 shares in the company, valued at $17,353,837.80. This represents a 8.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 183,398 shares of company stock worth $6,222,694 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Grail Company Profile

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.