Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Shares Gap Up to $16.07

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $16.07, but opened at $16.78. Guardant Health shares last traded at $16.96, with a volume of 663,410 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Guardant Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.40.

Guardant Health Stock Down 1.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.24 and a current ratio of 6.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.05 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.11.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $155.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.71 million. Guardant Health had a negative net margin of 85.02% and a negative return on equity of 301.94%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In related news, insider Kumud Kalia bought 2,187 shares of Guardant Health stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.82 per share, for a total transaction of $38,972.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,706.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Guardant Health by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,950,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,565,000 after purchasing an additional 146,902 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 2.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 568,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,840,000 after acquiring an additional 16,111 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the third quarter worth $1,689,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 5.8% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 159,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,732,000 after acquiring an additional 8,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 31.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,211,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,909,000 after acquiring an additional 292,888 shares in the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.