Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.40.

Several brokerages have recently commented on GH. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Guardant Health from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Guardant Health from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In related news, insider Kumud Kalia bought 2,187 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.82 per share, with a total value of $38,972.34. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,706.04. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Guardant Health by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,950,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,565,000 after buying an additional 146,902 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 568,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,840,000 after acquiring an additional 16,111 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Guardant Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,689,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Guardant Health by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 159,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,732,000 after acquiring an additional 8,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Guardant Health by 31.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. 92.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Guardant Health Trading Down 5.3 %

NASDAQ:GH opened at $16.16 on Wednesday. Guardant Health has a 12 month low of $16.03 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.78 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.45.

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

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.