Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Trading Up 8.4% – Here’s Why

Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) rose 8.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $168.71 and last traded at $169.2220. 454,472 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 2,333,667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler set a $127.00 price target on Guardant Health in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Guardant Health from $130.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Guardant Health from $150.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.70.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $21.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.21 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $127.50 and a 200-day moving average of $108.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Guardant Health news, Director Musa Tariq sold 1,951 shares of Guardant Health stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.16, for a total value of $255,893.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,449,055.68. The trade was a 15.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Helmy Eltoukhy sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.30, for a total transaction of $12,630,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,012,919 shares in the company, valued at $254,231,669.70. This trade represents a 4.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 708,681 shares of company stock valued at $90,566,438 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GH. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Guardant Health by 159.9% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 301,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,165,000 after purchasing an additional 185,200 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Guardant Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $72,000. MRA Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 12,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 965 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Guardant Health Company Profile

Guardant Health, Inc is a precision oncology company specializing in blood-based cancer diagnostics. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company develops non-invasive tests that use circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to profile genomic alterations in patients with solid tumors. Guardant Health’s mission is to advance cancer care by providing actionable data to clinicians, pharmaceutical partners and researchers worldwide.

The company’s flagship product, Guardant360, is a next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay designed to detect mutations, copy number variations and select fusions in more than 70 cancer-related genes.