Guardant Health, Inc. $GH Stock Position Raised by D.A. Davidson & CO.

Key Points

• D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Guardant Health by 72.1% in the first quarter, buying 12,866 more shares and ending with 30,718 shares worth about $2.84 million.
• Other institutional investors also increased holdings, with 92.6% of Guardant Health stock now owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive: several analysts raised price targets, and the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $160.04.

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) by 72.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,718 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,866 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Guardant Health were worth $2,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,160,768 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,242,101,000 after purchasing an additional 251,939 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,636,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,670,000 after buying an additional 1,414,441 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,361,547 shares of the company's stock valued at $343,348,000 after buying an additional 435,232 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,213,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $328,297,000 after buying an additional 277,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Guardant Health by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,441,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,398,000 after buying an additional 72,162 shares during the period. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Guardant Health Price Performance

Shares of Guardant Health stock opened at $155.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $20.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.98 and a beta of 1.59. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.35 and a 52-week high of $174.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.33.

Insider Transactions at Guardant Health

In other Guardant Health news, insider Chris Freeman sold 24,406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total value of $2,896,260.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 60,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,124,234.78. The trade was a 28.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.98, for a total transaction of $1,269,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,017.34. This trade represents a 47.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 708,565 shares of company stock valued at $90,556,597 in the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Guardant Health from $130.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Guardant Health from $135.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Piper Sandler set a $127.00 target price on Guardant Health in a report on Thursday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.04.

About Guardant Health

Guardant Health, Inc is a precision oncology company specializing in blood-based cancer diagnostics. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company develops non-invasive tests that use circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to profile genomic alterations in patients with solid tumors. Guardant Health's mission is to advance cancer care by providing actionable data to clinicians, pharmaceutical partners and researchers worldwide.

The company's flagship product, Guardant360, is a next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay designed to detect mutations, copy number variations and select fusions in more than 70 cancer-related genes.

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