Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Guardant Health's stock reached a new 52-week high at $53.68, closing at $51.28 after significant trading volume of over 1.9 million shares.
• Analysts have shown strong confidence in the company, with 19 rating it as a "buy" or higher, and several raising their target prices, the highest being $65.00 from Canaccord Genuity.
• In recent earnings, Guardant Health reported revenue of $232.09 million, surpassing estimates, alongside a narrower loss per share of ($0.44), indicating a year-over-year revenue increase of 31.0%.

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $53.68 and last traded at $51.28, with a volume of 1906377 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on GH shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Guardant Health to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities raised their price target 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. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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 report on Thursday, July 31st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.95.

Guardant Health Trading Up 13.0%

The business's 50 day moving average price is $47.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.06. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.06 and a beta of 1.43.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.44) EPS 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 analyst estimates of $211.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.84) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Guardant Health 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 transaction, the director owned 9,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $476,591.38. This trade represents a 40.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total transaction of $5,088,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,971,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $100,326,710.40. The trade was a 4.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 235,516 shares of company stock worth $11,848,754. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GH. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the first quarter valued at about $82,349,000. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 100.4% in the second quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,823,497 shares of the company's stock worth $146,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,381 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 100.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,794,667 shares of the company's stock worth $119,053,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,670 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 96.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,315,600 shares of the company's stock worth $70,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,673,000. 92.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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