Legal & General Group Plc Makes New Investment in Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Key Points

• Legal & General Group acquired 139,072 shares of Guardant Health in the second quarter, worth approximately $20.9 million, while institutional investors collectively own 92.6% of the company.
• Guardant Health reported quarterly revenue of $334.98 million, up 44.3% year over year, and narrowed its loss to $0.42 per share versus analysts’ expected loss of $0.76.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $183.78; however, insiders have sold roughly $82.5 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 139,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,865,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.10% of Guardant Health as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Guardant Health by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 352 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new position in Guardant Health in the first quarter worth $38,000. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Guardant Health during the first quarter worth $41,000. Finally, EFG International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Guardant Health Price Performance

NASDAQ GH opened at $161.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a PE ratio of -46.27 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $157.49 and a 200 day moving average of $120.75. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.40 and a 1 year high of $176.58.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by $0.34. The company had revenue of $334.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $314.23 million. Guardant Health's revenue for the quarter was up 44.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.44) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Guardant Health

In other Guardant Health news, insider Terilyn J. Monroe sold 46,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.12, for a total value of $7,645,056.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,794,292.48. The trade was a 66.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 37,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.16, for a total value of $6,343,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 37,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,343,500. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 548,318 shares of company stock valued at $82,501,873. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $183.78.

Guardant Health Profile

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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