Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Trading 8.4% Higher - Here's Why

Key Points

• Guardant Health shares jumped 8.4% on Thursday, trading as high as $168.71 after closing at $156.17 the prior day. Trading volume was well below average, with 454,472 shares changing hands.
• Recent analyst activity was notably bullish, with BTIG and Bank of America both raising price targets to $190 and Evercore setting a $200 target. The stock’s consensus rating remains Moderate Buy, with 23 Buy ratings and only one Sell rating.
• Despite the rally, the article notes continued insider selling, including recent sales by Chris Freeman and John G. Saia, while hedge funds and other institutions still own 92.60% of the company.

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) rose 8.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $168.71 and last traded at $169.2220. 454,472 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 2,333,667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GH shares. BTIG Research increased their price target on Guardant Health from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Guardant Health from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.70.

Guardant Health Price Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average is $124.35 and its 200 day moving average is $107.49. The company has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of -49.17 and a beta of 1.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In other news, insider Chris Freeman sold 24,406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total transaction of $2,896,260.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 60,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,124,234.78. The trade was a 28.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Saia sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $2,130,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 45,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,134.50. This represents a 30.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 708,681 shares of company stock valued at $90,566,438. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Guardant Health

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Guardant Health by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 352 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company's stock.

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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