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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Guardant Health from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Guardant Health from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.60.

Guardant Health Trading Up 6.1 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.31 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 2,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.90, for a total value of $86,590.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,648 shares in the company, valued at $228,675.20. This represents a 27.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Musa Tariq sold 2,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $81,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,660. This represents a 46.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,548 shares of company stock valued at $179,782. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Guardant Health during the third quarter worth $15,624,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 195,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,473,000 after acquiring an additional 68,883 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,822,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,754,000 after acquiring an additional 29,686 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,137,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Light Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Guardant Health by 119.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 416,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,042,000 after purchasing an additional 227,202 shares during the period. 92.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.