Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Trading Up 10.3% – Time to Buy?

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) shares shot up 10.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $108.35 and last traded at $109.7590. Approximately 1,074,523 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 2,463,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $63.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $56.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.14.

Guardant Health Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.79. The company has a market cap of $13.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.66 and a beta of 1.56.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by $0.09. The company’s revenue was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.88) EPS. Guardant Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Saia sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total value of $865,865.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 43,172 shares in the company, valued at $4,155,305. This represents a 17.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Medina Manuel Hidalgo sold 2,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.16, for a total transaction of $117,256.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,090.16. The trade was a 71.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 313,045 shares of company stock valued at $18,984,897. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Guardant Health by 37.3% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 60,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 16,363 shares in the last quarter. Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc bought a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the 2nd quarter worth about $289,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the 1st quarter valued at about $12,634,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Guardant Health by 6.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,035,000 after acquiring an additional 4,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Guardant Health during the first quarter valued at approximately $809,000. 92.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.