Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Shares Up 3.9%

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) shot up 3.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $18.82 and last traded at $18.66. 453,331 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 1,687,167 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GH shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Guardant Health in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Guardant Health from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Guardant Health from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Guggenheim started coverage on Guardant Health in a report on Thursday, December 14th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.30.

Guardant Health Stock Up 11.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.18, a current ratio of 6.54 and a quick ratio of 6.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.62 and a 200 day moving average of $24.46. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.49 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kumud Kalia acquired 2,187 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.82 per share, with a total value of $38,972.34. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at $226,706.04. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,130,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,084,000 after acquiring an additional 180,424 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $167,137,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 71.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,081,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,607,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,240 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 35.2% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,463,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 113.8% during the second quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 4,008,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,508,000 after acquiring an additional 2,133,582 shares in the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.