Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Takes $20.30 Million Position in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 476,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,299,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.39% of Guardant Health at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GH. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the first quarter valued at $870,000. Private Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Guardant Health during the first quarter valued at $13,752,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 180.3% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the 1st quarter worth approximately $22,639,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Guardant Health by 184.1% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 106,884 shares of the company's stock worth $4,553,000 after acquiring an additional 69,257 shares in the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Guardant Health Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of GH traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $46.25. 2,082,438 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,184,080. The company has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.64 and a beta of 1.44. Guardant Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.14 and a fifty-two week high of $53.42. The firm's fifty day moving average is $46.30 and its 200 day moving average is $44.47.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $203.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.91 million. Guardant Health's revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.46) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Guardant Health from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated 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. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $54.45.

Insider Activity at Guardant Health

In other news, Director Myrtle S. Potter sold 2,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $130,512.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $903,546. This represents a 12.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 106,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.01, for a total value of $5,233,483.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,202,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,952,954.72. This trade represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 342,300 shares of company stock worth $17,082,238 over the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.