Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Trading Down 7.6% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Guardant Health shares fell 7.6% during trading, reaching a low of $41.42, with a total of approximately 1.6 million shares traded—a significant drop from the average daily volume.
• Despite the recent decline, multiple research firms have raised their price targets for Guardant Health, with an average consensus price target now at $54.95 and a majority of analysts rating it as a "Buy."
• In the recent quarter, Guardant Health reported a revenue increase of 20.8% year-over-year, achieving $203.47 million and beating analyst revenue estimates, although it still posted a negative EPS of -$0.49.

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) shares dropped 7.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $41.42 and last traded at $41.76. Approximately 1,597,109 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 2,258,847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GH. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Guardant Health to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.95.

Guardant Health Trading Down 9.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.10 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.85.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $203.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. Guardant Health's revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Guardant Health news, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 100,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Myrtle S. Potter sold 2,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $130,512.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $903,546. This trade represents a 12.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 235,516 shares of company stock worth $11,848,754. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Guardant Health by 50.5% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 635 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Guardant Health by 120.1% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 612 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the 1st quarter worth $54,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the 4th quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors own 92.60% of the company's stock.

About Guardant Health

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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