CareDx (NASDAQ:CDNA) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• CareDx shares jumped 8.5%, opening at $47.22 after Craig Hallum upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy and set a $64 price target. Despite the upgrade, the broader analyst consensus remains Hold, with an average target of $44.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.37 versus estimates of $0.23 and revenue of $131.95 million versus expectations of $114.05 million. Revenue increased 52.2% year over year.
• Institutional investors including Bank of America, Janus Henderson and Renaissance Technologies increased their CareDx holdings, while insiders sold 78,936 shares worth approximately $2.1 million over the past three months.

CareDx, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNA - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Craig Hallum upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $43.71, but opened at $47.22. Craig Hallum now has a $64.00 price target on the stock. CareDx shares last traded at $47.9570, with a volume of 380,558 shares changing hands.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CareDx

In other CareDx news, CEO John Walter Hanna, Jr. sold 39,900 shares of CareDx stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total value of $1,166,676.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 661,959 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,355,681.16. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Hannah Valantine sold 12,103 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 36,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $847,813.46. The trade was 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. Insiders have sold a total of 78,936 shares of company stock worth $2,093,708 over the last three months. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CareDx

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in CareDx by 44.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 470,665 shares of the company's stock worth $8,171,000 after purchasing an additional 145,840 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in CareDx by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 316,519 shares of the company's stock worth $5,495,000 after purchasing an additional 28,958 shares during the period. Amundi purchased a new position in shares of CareDx during the 1st quarter worth approximately $206,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of CareDx in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $298,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of CareDx by 7.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,184,398 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,561,000 after buying an additional 79,200 shares in the last quarter.

CareDx Stock Up 8.5%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.14. CareDx had a net margin of 24.23% and a return on equity of 2.87%. The business had revenue of $131.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $114.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 52.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that CareDx, Inc. will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

About CareDx

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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