Allianz Asset Management GmbH Lowers Position in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH has reduced its stake in Guardant Health by 10.7%, now holding 144,676 shares worth approximately $6.16 million, according to its latest SEC filing.
• In recent insider activities, CEO Amirali Talasaz and Director Ian T. Clark sold significant portions of their shares, indicating a decrease in their ownership by 4.83% and 40.38% respectively.
• Guardant Health's stock price has fluctuated between a one-year low of $20.14 and a high of $53.42, with the current average analyst target price set at $54.45 following several upgrades from brokerages.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH cut its holdings in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,676 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,389 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned 0.12% of Guardant Health worth $6,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth $2,211,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guardant Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at $80,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Guardant Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $758,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,052,551 shares of the company's stock worth $368,205,000 after purchasing an additional 350,606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GH shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Guardant Health to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $54.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In other news, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total transaction of $5,088,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,971,830 shares in the company, valued at $100,326,710.40. The trade was a 4.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Myrtle S. Potter sold 2,626 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $130,512.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $903,546. The trade was a 12.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 235,516 shares of company stock valued at $11,848,754 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Guardant Health Trading Down 6.1%

NASDAQ:GH traded down $2.76 on Thursday, hitting $42.43. 3,042,534 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,269,195. The company has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of -12.50 and a beta of 1.44. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.14 and a 1 year high of $53.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.85.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $203.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.