World Investment Advisors Purchases New Position in Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Key Points

• World Investment Advisors opened a new position in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter, buying 16,290 shares worth about $1.66 million.
• Guardant Health shares were down 3.8% to $94.92, even after the company reported 39.4% year-over-year revenue growth in its latest quarter. However, earnings missed analyst expectations, with EPS of -$0.50 versus the expected -$0.43.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish on the stock, with 19 Buy ratings and a consensus price target of about $129.42. At the same time, insiders have sold shares recently, including CFO Michael Brian Bell and insider Terilyn J. Monroe.

World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 16,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,664,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GH. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 56.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,012,000 after buying an additional 25,831 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Guardant Health by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 77,308 shares of the company's stock worth $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 10,538 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Guardant Health by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 632,630 shares of the company's stock worth $32,922,000 after purchasing an additional 54,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Guardant Health by 56.4% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 111,445 shares of the company's stock worth $5,800,000 after purchasing an additional 40,209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.60% of the company's stock.

Guardant Health Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ GH opened at $94.92 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.00 and a beta of 1.48. Guardant Health, Inc. has a one year low of $36.36 and a one year high of $120.74.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $281.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.74 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 39.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.62) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $129.00 target price on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on Guardant Health from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on Guardant Health from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael Brian Bell sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.04, for a total value of $261,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,031.04. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Terilyn J. Monroe sold 3,832 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.68, for a total value of $355,149.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,990 shares in the company, valued at $1,945,353.20. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 58,596 shares of company stock valued at $5,791,767 in the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by 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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