Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $17.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 1,552,021 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the previous session’s volume of 2,378,962 shares.The stock last traded at $16.0710 and had previously closed at $15.58.

PSNL has been the subject of several other reports. BTIG Research cut their price target on shares of Personalis from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Personalis in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Personalis in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Personalis from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Personalis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Personalis

In other Personalis news, CEO Christopher M. Hall sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.15, for a total value of $1,315,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 235,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,103,215.90. This trade represents a 29.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Aaron Tachibana sold 51,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.18, for a total transaction of $675,488.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 198,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,620,618.94. This trade represents a 20.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 435,032 shares of company stock worth $5,599,929. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Personalis

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PSNL. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Personalis by 76.1% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,479 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Personalis by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 38,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Personalis by 3.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 78,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 2,395 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Personalis by 0.9% during the second quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 285,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Personalis by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 3,851 shares in the last quarter. 61.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Personalis Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.09 and a beta of 2.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.94 and its 200-day moving average is $8.90.

Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $15.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.48 million. Personalis had a negative net margin of 148.11% and a negative return on equity of 43.52%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Personalis, Inc. will post -1.07 EPS for the current year.

Personalis Company Profile

Personalis, Inc (NASDAQ: PSNL) is a clinical‐stage genomics company that develops and markets advanced next‐generation sequencing (NGS) services and assays designed to accelerate precision medicine. The Company’s core offering is the ImmunoID NeXT™ Platform, which combines comprehensive tumor profiling—including whole exome, transcriptome, and T‐cell receptor sequencing—with proprietary bioinformatics to identify biomarkers and guide immuno‐oncology research. Personalis serves biopharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and clinical research organizations seeking in‐depth insights into cancer, autoimmune diseases and other complex conditions.

In addition to its flagship ImmunoID NeXT™ Platform, Personalis offers a suite of customizable sequencing assays for biomarker discovery, clinical trial support and companion diagnostic development.