M&T Bank Corp Invests $6.83 Million in Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp bought 66,895 shares of Guardant Health valued at about $6.83 million, representing roughly 0.05% of the company at the end of the quarter.
• Guardant posted Q4 EPS of ($0.50), missing estimates by $0.07, while revenue beat at $281.27 million and rose 39.4% year-over-year.
• Analysts are broadly bullish—20 Buys, 1 Hold, 1 Sell—giving a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $125.20, with several firms recently raising price targets.

M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 66,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,833,000. M&T Bank Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Guardant Health at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Guardant Health in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. First Pacific Financial bought a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 153.5% during the third quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 768 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Guardant Health Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Guardant Health stock opened at $88.91 on Friday. Guardant Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.36 and a twelve month high of $120.74. The company's 50 day moving average is $90.98 and its 200 day moving average is $95.55. The company has a market cap of $11.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.86 and a beta of 1.64.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $281.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.74 million. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.62) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Guardant Health from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Guardant Health from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Barclays decreased their price target on Guardant Health from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Leerink Partners upped their price target on Guardant Health from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Guardant Health from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $125.20.

Insider Transactions at Guardant Health

In other Guardant Health news, Director Musa Tariq sold 348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.09, for a total value of $30,655.32. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $739,427.46. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Medina Manuel Hidalgo sold 1,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.54, for a total value of $119,002.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $109,207.22. This represents a 52.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,596 shares of company stock worth $775,767. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.