Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) Short Interest Up 25.1% in April

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,560,000 shares, an increase of 25.1% from the March 31st total of 7,640,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

Shares of GH stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $18.00. 1,168,510 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,865,512. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.75. The company has a current ratio of 6.54, a quick ratio of 6.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.18. Guardant Health has a 52-week low of $15.81 and a 52-week high of $41.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.21 and a beta of 0.87.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($1.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.93) by ($0.65). Guardant Health had a negative net margin of 85.02% and a negative return on equity of 301.94%. The business had revenue of $155.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.71 million. Research analysts predict that Guardant Health will post -3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GH. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $45.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Guardant Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kumud Kalia acquired 2,187 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.82 per share, with a total value of $38,972.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,706.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Guardant Health by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,130,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,084,000 after buying an additional 180,424 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new position in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at $167,137,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,001,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,452 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 3,888,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,174,000 after purchasing an additional 298,616 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,890,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,046,000 after purchasing an additional 403,475 shares during the period. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Guardant Health Company Profile

Guardant Health, Inc, a precision oncology company, provides blood and tissue tests, data sets, and analytics in the United States and internationally. The company provides Guardant360; Guardant360 LDT; Guardant360 CDx Test; Guardant360 Response Test; Guardant360 TissueNext Test; GuardantINFINITY Test; GuardantConnect, an integrated software-based solution designed for clinical and biopharmaceutical customers to connect patients tested with assays with actionable alterations with potentially relevant clinical studies; GuardantOMNI Test for advanced stage cancer; and GuardantINFORM, an in-silico research platform for tumor evolution and treatment resistance across various biomarker-driven cancers.