The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Stake in Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Guardant Health by 19.8%, acquiring an additional 95,458 shares in the 1st quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.47% of the company's stock.
• Guardant Health reported a 31.0% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of ($0.44), surpassing estimates of ($0.52).
• Institutional investors currently own 92.60% of Guardant Health, with several firms increasing their stakes during the 1st quarter, reflecting a strong interest in the company's growth potential.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 578,346 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 95,458 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.47% of Guardant Health worth $24,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 49,927 shares of the company's stock worth $1,525,000 after buying an additional 10,006 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 3,863 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $863,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Guardant Health by 96.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 155,165 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,739,000 after purchasing an additional 76,124 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total transaction of $5,088,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,971,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at $100,326,710.40. This represents a 4.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 3,337 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.22, for a total transaction of $157,573.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $526,503. The trade was a 23.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,258 shares of company stock worth $5,880,919 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Guardant Health Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GH traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $59.93. 353,275 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,380,421. The firm has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.96 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $53.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.18. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.14 and a 1 year high of $68.00.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $232.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.84) earnings per share. Guardant Health's quarterly revenue was up 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GH. Mizuho upped their price target on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Guardant Health from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Guardant Health to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Scotiabank lifted 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.24.

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.