Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Stock: Insider Alex Azar II Sells 69 Shares

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) Director Alex Azar II sold 69 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.89, for a total value of $11,032.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,781.77. The trade was a 7.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

GH traded down $7.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $158.60. 1,975,583 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,880,109. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of -45.44 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $167.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.16. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.00 and a 1 year high of $191.05.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $334.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.23 million. The business’s revenue was up 44.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.44) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Guardant Health

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Guardant Health in the third quarter worth about $259,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in Guardant Health by 624.7% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 42,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,352,000 after acquiring an additional 36,212 shares during the last quarter. KOM Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Guardant Health during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. NFSG Corp bought a new position in shares of Guardant Health during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Guardant Health by 55.3% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Guardant Health from $175.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Stephens upped their target price on Guardant Health from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Guardant Health from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.00.

Guardant Health Company Profile

Guardant Health, Inc (NASDAQ: GH) is a precision oncology company that develops blood- and tissue-based diagnostic tests designed to help detect cancer, guide treatment decisions and monitor patients throughout the course of their disease. Its testing platforms analyze circulating tumor DNA and other genomic information to provide insights into a tumor’s molecular characteristics.

The company’s products include Guardant360 tests for comprehensive genomic profiling in advanced cancer, Guardant360 CDx, which is approved as a companion diagnostic for certain targeted therapies, and Guardant360 Response for assessing how a tumor may be responding to treatment.