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

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $183.7826.

GH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Guardant Health from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $150.00 price target on Guardant Health in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Guardant Health from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 210,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.89, for a total transaction of $23,076,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,886,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,307,924.56. This trade represents a 10.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John G. Saia sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $2,130,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 45,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,894,134.50. The trade was a 30.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 784,350 shares of company stock worth $106,504,483. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Guardant Health by 56.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,012,000 after acquiring an additional 25,831 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Guardant Health during the first quarter worth about $274,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 15.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 77,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,023,000 after buying an additional 10,538 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Guardant Health by 9.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 632,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,922,000 after buying an additional 54,284 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Guardant Health by 56.4% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 111,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,800,000 after buying an additional 40,209 shares during the period. 92.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Guardant Health Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GH opened at $157.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.05 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $150.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.87. Guardant Health has a 1-year low of $53.40 and a 1-year high of $176.58.

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.