Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $42.00 and last traded at $42.12, with a volume of 650168 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GH has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Guardant Health from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Guardant Health from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $40.60.

Guardant Health Stock Up 15.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of -9.97 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.02.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.88) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $191.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.49 million. Guardant Health had a negative return on equity of 1,200.44% and a negative net margin of 74.02%. The company’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.73) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Guardant Health news, Director Musa Tariq sold 2,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $81,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,676 shares in the company, valued at $93,660. This trade represents a 46.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 2,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.90, for a total transaction of $86,590.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $228,675.20. The trade was a 27.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,432 shares of company stock worth $175,423. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Guardant Health during the third quarter worth about $15,624,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 195,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,473,000 after acquiring an additional 68,883 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,822,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,754,000 after purchasing an additional 29,686 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 1,282.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,226,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,482 shares during the period. Finally, First Light Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 119.7% in the second quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 416,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,042,000 after purchasing an additional 227,202 shares in the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.