IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Purchases Shares of 9,004 Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)

Key Points

• IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd invested approximately $384,000 to acquire 9,004 shares of Guardant Health, expanding its presence in the company during the first quarter.
• Guardant Health reported a 31% year-over-year revenue growth for the last quarter, with revenue coming in at $232.09 million, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for Guardant Health shares, with an average target of $54.95 and an overall rating of "Buy" from 19 analysts.

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Guardant Health by 25.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,638 shares of the company's stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Guardant Health by 11.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 36,698 shares of the company's stock worth $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 3,876 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Guardant Health in the first quarter worth about $475,000. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Guardant Health in the first quarter worth about $984,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Guardant Health in the first quarter worth about $366,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GH shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $54.95.

Guardant Health Price Performance

NASDAQ GH traded up $3.84 on Friday, hitting $54.23. The stock had a trading volume of 4,809,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,816,110. The business's fifty day moving average price is $48.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.21. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.14 and a 52-week high of $54.62. The stock has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.19 and a beta of 1.43.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $232.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.84) earnings per share. Guardant Health's revenue for the quarter was up 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Musa Tariq sold 3,213 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.47, for a total transaction of $158,947.11. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $355,689.30. The trade was a 30.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 3,337 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.22, for a total transaction of $157,573.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,150 shares in the company, valued at $526,503. This trade represents a 23.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 235,516 shares of company stock valued at $11,848,754. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Guardant Health 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.