Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Reaches New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Guardant Health's stock reached a new 52-week high of $68.20, closing at $67.44 with a volume of over 565,000 shares traded.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Guardant Health, with JPMorgan and Barclays both setting targets at $70.00, while Leerink Partners increased theirs to $75.00.
• Despite its recent stock performance, Guardant Health reported quarterly earnings of ($0.44) EPS, surpassing expectations, with revenue up 31% year-over-year to $232.09 million.

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $68.20 and last traded at $67.44, with a volume of 565623 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Guardant Health from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.86.

Guardant Health Stock Up 4.2%

The business's 50-day moving average price is $60.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of -20.03 and a beta of 1.53.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.52) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $232.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.19 million. Guardant Health's revenue for the quarter was up 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.84) earnings per share. Guardant Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Medina Manuel Hidalgo sold 2,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.16, for a total value of $117,256.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,090.16. This represents a 71.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Helmy Eltoukhy sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.45, for a total value of $17,835,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,123,499 shares in the company, valued at $126,242,015.55. This represents a 12.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 302,549 shares of company stock valued at $17,975,121 over the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GH. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in Guardant Health in the first quarter worth approximately $279,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health in the first quarter worth approximately $232,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health in the first quarter worth approximately $353,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Guardant Health in the first quarter worth approximately $442,000. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health in the first quarter worth approximately $1,337,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.60% of the company's stock.

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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