Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Stock Price Up 6.4% – What’s Next?

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) shares were up 6.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $47.68 and last traded at $48.01. Approximately 1,011,909 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 2,393,260 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GH. Barclays began coverage on Guardant Health in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their target price on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.81.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.39. The company has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.13 and a beta of 1.28.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.88) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $191.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.49 million. Guardant Health had a negative return on equity of 1,200.44% and a negative net margin of 74.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.73) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Guardant Health

In related news, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 2,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.90, for a total value of $86,590.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,648 shares in the company, valued at $228,675.20. The trade was a 27.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Musa Tariq sold 2,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $81,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,676 shares in the company, valued at $93,660. The trade was a 46.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,548 shares of company stock worth $179,782. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Guardant Health by 188.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,127,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,325,000 after acquiring an additional 6,618,785 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 1,282.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,226,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,482 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 233.5% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 1,512,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,104 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Guardant Health in the third quarter valued at about $21,389,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Guardant Health during the third quarter worth about $15,624,000. Institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

About Guardant Health

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.