Barclays Initiates Coverage on Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH)

Analysts at Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 27.09% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target 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. 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. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Wednesday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Guardant Health currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.81.

Guardant Health Stock Down 2.9 %

Guardant Health stock opened at $47.21 on Thursday. Guardant Health has a twelve month low of $15.81 and a twelve month high of $49.86. The stock has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.53.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In other news, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 2,896 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $228,675.20. This represents a 27.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Musa Tariq sold 2,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $81,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,660. This trade represents a 46.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,548 shares of company stock worth $179,782 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GH. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Guardant Health by 188.6% in 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 period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 1,282.5% in the third 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 during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Guardant Health by 233.5% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 1,512,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,104 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Guardant Health during the 3rd quarter worth $21,389,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health during the 3rd quarter worth about $15,624,000. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by 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.