CareDx (NASDAQ:CDNA) Rating Increased to Buy at Craig Hallum

Key Points

• Craig Hallum upgraded CareDx to “buy” from “hold” and set a $64 price target, implying 46.42% upside from the previous close.
• CareDx reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.37 versus the $0.23 consensus estimate and revenue of $131.95 million, up 52.2% year over year.
• Despite recent analyst upgrades and institutional buying, the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with a $44 price target; insiders have sold nearly $2.1 million of stock over the past three months.

CareDx (NASDAQ:CDNA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Craig Hallum from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $64.00 price target on the stock. Craig Hallum's price objective points to a potential upside of 46.42% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on CDNA. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of CareDx from $28.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CareDx from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of CareDx in a research report on Friday. William Blair raised shares of CareDx to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded CareDx from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.00.

CareDx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CDNA opened at $43.71 on Monday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $28.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.62. CareDx has a 52-week low of $11.26 and a 52-week high of $45.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 2.38.

CareDx (NASDAQ:CDNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.14. CareDx had a return on equity of 2.87% and a net margin of 24.23%.The business had revenue of $131.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. The business's revenue was up 52.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that CareDx will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CareDx

In other news, CEO John Walter Hanna, Jr. sold 39,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total transaction of $1,166,676.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 661,959 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,355,681.16. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, Director Hannah Valantine sold 12,103 shares of CareDx stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.11, for a total transaction of $279,700.33. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 36,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $847,813.46. This represents a 24.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 78,936 shares of company stock valued at $2,093,708. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in CareDx by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,737,752 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,579,000 after buying an additional 171,303 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of CareDx by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,435,657 shares of the company's stock worth $47,593,000 after acquiring an additional 245,651 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. bought a new position in shares of CareDx in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,857,000. Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CareDx by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 1,774,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,439,000 after acquiring an additional 45,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CareDx by 2.0% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,475,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,608,000 after acquiring an additional 28,510 shares during the period.

CareDx Company Profile

CareDx, Inc NASDAQ: CDNA is a precision diagnostics company focused on the care of transplant patients. The firm develops and commercializes non‐invasive tests designed to detect organ transplant rejection and infection risk, helping physicians make informed management decisions throughout the post‐transplant journey.

The company's core product portfolio includes AlloMap®, a gene expression profiling test for heart transplant recipients, and AlloSure®, a donor‐derived cell‐free DNA assay used primarily in kidney transplant monitoring.

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