Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $17.07 Million Stock Position in Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Guardant Health by 20.2% in the first quarter, ending with 184,846 shares worth about $17.07 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to their positions, and hedge funds now own 92.6% of Guardant Health’s stock.
• Analysts remain upbeat: multiple firms raised price targets, and the stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $160.04.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) by 20.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 184,846 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,064 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Guardant Health worth $17,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GH. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 19.5% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 844 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in Guardant Health by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Financial raised its holdings in Guardant Health by 33.1% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 559 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Xponance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 9,630 shares of the company's stock worth $984,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S boosted its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 1,200 shares of the company's stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.60% of the company's stock.

Guardant Health Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:GH opened at $150.75 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $137.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.36. Guardant Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.35 and a twelve month high of $174.08. The company has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.47 and a beta of 1.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Guardant Health from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Mizuho increased their price target on Guardant Health from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.04.

Insider Activity at Guardant Health

In other news, insider John G. Saia sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $2,130,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 45,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,894,134.50. This represents a 30.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 210,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.89, for a total transaction of $23,076,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,886,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,307,924.56. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 708,565 shares of company stock valued at $90,556,597. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Guardant Health Company Profile

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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