Northern Trust Corp Buys 135,288 Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has increased its stake in Guardant Health, Inc. by 11.8%, acquiring an additional 135,288 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 1.03% valued at $54.4 million.
• Several large institutional investors have also boosted their positions in Guardant Health, with Invesco Ltd. increasing its holdings by over 100% and Two Sigma Advisers LP enhancing theirs by nearly 97%.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Guardant Health, with Stifel Nicolaus and others setting new targets between $60 and $70, indicating a consensus rating of "Buy" for the stock.

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,277,280 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 135,288 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.03% of Guardant Health worth $54,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,255,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Guardant Health by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 104,206 shares of the company's stock worth $4,439,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Guardant Health by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 14,921 shares of the company's stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC increased its position in Guardant Health by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 202,127 shares of the company's stock worth $8,611,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Informed Momentum Co LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,596,000. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GH traded up $2.95 during trading on Monday, reaching $67.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,864,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,800,602. The firm's fifty day moving average is $52.07 and its 200 day moving average is $46.76. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.14 and a 52 week high of $67.51. The stock has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.13 and a beta of 1.45.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.44) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.52) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $232.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.84) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Guardant Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ian T. Clark sold 6,672 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.38, for a total value of $322,791.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $476,591.38. This represents a 40.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Myrtle S. Potter sold 2,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $130,512.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $903,546. This represents a 12.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 235,442 shares of company stock worth $11,848,325. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Guardant Health to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $57.50.

About Guardant Health

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.