Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Sells 107,223 Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)

Key Points

• Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. sold 107,223 shares of Guardant Health, Inc., reducing its stake by 7.3% to approximately 1.10%, valued at about $57.77 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Guardant Health, with Vanguard Group increasing its stake by 3.0% and Two Sigma Advisers LP raising theirs by 96.7%.
• Wall Street analysts remain optimistic, maintaining a consensus rating of "Buy" and raising price targets, with Mizuho recently increasing its price objective from $60.00 to $65.00.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lessened its stake in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,356,990 shares of the company's stock after selling 107,223 shares during the quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned 1.10% of Guardant Health worth $57,767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 180.3% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,477 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter worth about $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Guardant Health from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities upped their price objective on Guardant Health from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Guardant Health from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In other news, Director Ian T. Clark sold 6,672 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.38, for a total transaction of $322,791.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,851 shares in the company, valued at $476,591.38. This trade represents a 40.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 106,784 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.01, for a total value of $5,233,483.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,202,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at $107,952,954.72. The trade was a 4.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 342,300 shares of company stock valued at $17,082,238. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Guardant Health Stock Down 0.3%

Guardant Health stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $44.27. 1,775,727 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,716,547. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.14 and a 12 month high of $53.42. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $46.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.80.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $203.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $189.91 million. Guardant Health's revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.46) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 EPS for the current year.

Guardant Health Company 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.