Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $39.29 and last traded at $38.89, with a volume of 133117 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Guardant Health from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Guardant Health from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $40.60.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.70, a quick ratio of 5.85 and a current ratio of 6.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of -8.99 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.65.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.88) earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.73) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 2,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.90, for a total transaction of $86,590.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $228,675.20. This represents a 27.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Musa Tariq sold 2,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $81,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,660. This represents a 46.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,432 shares of company stock worth $175,423. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Guardant Health

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 188.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,127,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,325,000 after acquiring an additional 6,618,785 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Guardant Health by 2.0% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 3,837,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,028,000 after purchasing an additional 76,762 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,822,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,754,000 after purchasing an additional 29,686 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 233.5% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 1,512,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,701,000 after buying an additional 1,059,104 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 1,282.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,226,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,128,000 after buying an additional 1,137,482 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

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.