Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Stock Holdings in Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Key Points

• Janus Henderson increased its Guardant Health stake by 19.4% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 140,345 shares valued at approximately $12.96 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.6% of GH.
• Guardant Health shares opened at $159.79, near their 52-week high of $176.58, after rising 0.6%. The stock’s average analyst rating is “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $183.78.
• Insiders sold 708,565 shares worth about $90.6 million over the past three months, including substantial sales by CEO Amirali Talasaz under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) by 19.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,345 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,844 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.11% of Guardant Health worth $12,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $114,421,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Guardant Health by 33.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $128,499,000. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Guardant Health by 674.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC now owns 851,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,019,000 after acquiring an additional 741,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Guardant Health by 89.6% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,205,701 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,371,000 after acquiring an additional 569,766 shares during the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Guardant Health Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:GH opened at $159.79 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $145.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.14. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.66 and a 52 week high of $176.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.78 and a beta of 1.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Musa Tariq sold 1,951 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.16, for a total transaction of $255,893.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,048 shares in the company, valued at $1,449,055.68. This trade represents a 15.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 143,028 shares of Guardant Health stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.54, for a total value of $21,674,463.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,881,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $285,097,657.44. This represents a 7.07% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 708,565 shares of company stock valued at $90,556,597. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GH. Barclays increased their price objective on Guardant Health from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Guardant Health from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Guardant Health from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research increased their price target on Guardant Health from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Guardant Health from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $183.78.

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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