Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Position in Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,908,829 shares of the company’s stock after selling 259,191 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.45% of Guardant Health worth $744,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in Guardant Health by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,127,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,378,000 after buying an additional 317,906 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Guardant Health by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,558,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,184,000 after acquiring an additional 763,834 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Guardant Health by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,920,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,014,000 after buying an additional 13,088 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Guardant Health by 78.2% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,319,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,730,000 after buying an additional 1,018,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its stake in Guardant Health by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,030,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,623,000 after acquiring an additional 673,438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Guardant Health Stock Down 8.4%

Shares of GH stock opened at $94.42 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $106.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a PE ratio of -28.53 and a beta of 1.63. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.88 and a 52-week high of $120.74.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $281.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.74 million. The company’s revenue was up 39.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.62) EPS. Analysts expect that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Guardant Health

In other Guardant Health news, CFO Michael Brian Bell sold 80,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total value of $8,288,536.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 28,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,893,283.28. The trade was a 74.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.05, for a total transaction of $10,505,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 168,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,671,826.15. This trade represents a 37.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 434,511 shares of company stock worth $45,580,887 over the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Guardant Health from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Guardant Health from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Guardant Health from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.67.

Guardant Health 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.