Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Stake in Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management sharply increased its stake in Guardant Health by 1,534.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 38,355 shares valued at about $4.16 million.
• Guardant Health reported quarterly revenue of $281.27 million, topping estimates, but posted an EPS loss of $0.50, which was worse than expected. Revenue still grew 39.4% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on the stock, with 19 Buy ratings and a consensus Moderate Buy rating. The average target price is $129, above the stock’s recent level near $119.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) by 1,534.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,355 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,008 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Guardant Health were worth $4,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Guardant Health during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in Guardant Health during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in Guardant Health by 153.5% during the 3rd quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 768 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In other news, insider John G. Saia sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $2,130,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 45,950 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,134.50. This trade represents a 30.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Medina Manuel Hidalgo sold 1,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.09, for a total value of $133,862.50. Following the sale, the director owned 1,639 shares in the company, valued at $175,520.51. This trade represents a 43.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 296,838 shares of company stock valued at $31,878,906. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Guardant Health Price Performance

GH stock opened at $118.95 on Monday. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.36 and a 52-week high of $121.01. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $91.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.09 and a beta of 1.48.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $281.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.62) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 39.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $129.00 target price on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Evercore set a $110.00 target price on Guardant Health in a report on Friday, February 20th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Guardant Health from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Guardant Health in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Guardant Health from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.00.

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.

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