Brokerages Set Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) PT at $96.71

Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and twenty-three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $96.7143.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Guardant Health from $56.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Guardant Health from $93.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Guardant Health from $100.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Thursday, October 30th.

Guardant Health Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ GH opened at $102.98 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.57. The firm has a market cap of $12.98 billion, a PE ratio of -32.08 and a beta of 1.58. Guardant Health has a 52 week low of $29.91 and a 52 week high of $112.43.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.09. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.88) EPS. Research analysts expect that Guardant Health will post -2.9 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Medina Manuel Hidalgo sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $131,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,685. This represents a 61.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Helmy Eltoukhy sold 90,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.82, for a total transaction of $9,402,458.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,047,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $212,534,386.26. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 426,663 shares of company stock worth $44,508,069. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GH. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 317,906 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Guardant Health by 27.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,558,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,184,000 after purchasing an additional 763,834 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 26.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,926,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,836,000 after purchasing an additional 606,368 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 0.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,920,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,014,000 after purchasing an additional 13,088 shares during the period. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 100.4% in the second quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,823,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,381 shares in the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Guardant Health

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.