Traders Purchase Large Volume of Guardant Health Call Options (NASDAQ:GH)

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 5,660 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 175% compared to the average daily volume of 2,057 call options.

Guardant Health Stock Up 4.7 %

GH stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $16.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 722,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,880,457. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of -3.96 and a beta of 0.87. Guardant Health has a 12 month low of $15.81 and a 12 month high of $41.06. The company has a current ratio of 6.54, a quick ratio of 6.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.21 and its 200-day moving average is $23.19.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kumud Kalia purchased 2,187 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.82 per share, for a total transaction of $38,972.34. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at $226,706.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Guardant Health by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,950,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,565,000 after purchasing an additional 146,902 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Guardant Health by 2.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 568,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,840,000 after purchasing an additional 16,111 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Guardant Health in the third quarter worth approximately $1,689,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Guardant Health by 5.8% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 159,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,732,000 after purchasing an additional 8,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Guardant Health by 31.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,211,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,909,000 after purchasing an additional 292,888 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on GH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Guardant Health from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Guardant Health from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Guardant Health from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.40.

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.