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

Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) saw unusually-high 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 traded hands 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.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PSNL. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Personalis in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Personalis from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of Personalis from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Personalis in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Personalis from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Personalis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.50.

Insider Activity

In other Personalis news, CEO Christopher M. Hall sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.15, for a total transaction of $1,315,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 235,986 shares in the company, valued at $3,103,215.90. This trade represents a 29.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 Personalis stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.18, for a total value of $675,488.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 198,833 shares in the company, valued at $2,620,618.94. This represents a 20.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 435,032 shares of company stock worth $5,599,929. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Personalis

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PSNL. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Personalis by 76.1% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,479 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Personalis in the second quarter valued at $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Personalis during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Personalis by 406.4% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 5,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in Personalis during the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.91% of the company’s stock.

Personalis Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.09 and a beta of 2.24.

Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.06). Personalis had a negative net margin of 148.11% and a negative return on equity of 43.52%. The company had revenue of $15.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.48 million. Sell-side 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.