Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 488,043 Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) by 4,838.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 498,129 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 488,043 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.40% of Guardant Health worth $21,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Guardant Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Guardant Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Guardant Health by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Guardant Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Guardant Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.60% of the company's stock.

Guardant Health Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of GH stock traded down $1.04 on Friday, reaching $50.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,195,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,171,123. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of -14.82 and a beta of 1.44. Guardant Health, Inc. has a one year low of $20.14 and a one year high of $53.42. The business's 50-day moving average is $45.70 and its 200 day moving average is $43.78.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $203.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.91 million. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.46) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.38, for a total transaction of $322,791.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $476,591.38. This trade represents a 40.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Myrtle S. Potter sold 2,626 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $130,512.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $903,546. This trade represents a 12.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 342,274 shares of company stock worth $17,080,589. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $53.76.

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.