First Light Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Key Points

• First Light Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in Guardant Health by 12.4%, selling 38,274 shares during the first quarter, now holding 271,115 shares that represent approximately 1.3% of its total holdings.
• Guardant Health reported a revenue of $232.09 million for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a 31.0% year-over-year increase.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for Guardant Health stock with an average target price of $57.50, reflecting positive sentiment toward the company's growth potential.

First Light Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 271,115 shares of the company's stock after selling 38,274 shares during the quarter. Guardant Health comprises about 1.3% of First Light Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. First Light Asset Management LLC owned about 0.22% of Guardant Health worth $11,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deep Track Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 6,419,566 shares of the company's stock worth $196,118,000 after purchasing an additional 419,006 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 100.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,794,667 shares of the company's stock worth $119,053,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,670 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 96.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,315,600 shares of the company's stock worth $70,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,300 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the 1st quarter worth $82,349,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,890,714 shares of the company's stock worth $57,761,000 after purchasing an additional 525,368 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Guardant Health to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Guardant Health from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Guardant Health from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Guardant Health from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $58.24.

Guardant Health Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:GH traded down $1.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.13. 2,884,953 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,412,975. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.14 and a 52-week high of $68.00. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $53.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.20. The company has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.95 and a beta of 1.46.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.44) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $232.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.19 million. Guardant Health's quarterly revenue was up 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.84) earnings per share. Guardant Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Guardant Health

In other Guardant Health news, Director Musa Tariq sold 3,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.47, for a total transaction of $158,947.11. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,190 shares in the company, valued at $355,689.30. This represents a 30.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total value of $5,088,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,971,830 shares in the company, valued at $100,326,710.40. This trade represents a 4.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 194,111 shares of company stock valued at $9,780,576 in the last ninety days. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Guardant Health Company Profile

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.