Leerink Partners Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Stock

Key Points

• Leerink Partners has raised its price target for Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) from $70.00 to $75.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.16% from its current price.
• Despite reporting a loss of ($0.44) EPS, Guardant Health exceeded revenue expectations with $232.09 million for the quarter, marking a 31.0% increase compared to the previous year.
• Insider selling has been noted, with CEO Amirali Talasaz selling 100,000 shares valued at over $5 million, representing a 4.83% decrease in his holdings.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by Leerink Partners from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Leerink Partners' price objective suggests a potential upside of 22.16% from the stock's current price.

GH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Guardant Health to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded Guardant Health from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Thursday. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Guardant Health in a research report on Monday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-one have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $64.53.

Guardant Health Stock Up 6.5%

Shares of GH traded up $3.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $61.40. 2,223,190 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,397,694. Guardant Health has a 1-year low of $20.14 and a 1-year high of $68.00. The company has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of -18.30 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.08 and a 200 day moving average of $48.55.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $232.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.19 million. The business's revenue was up 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.84) EPS. Guardant Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Guardant Health will post -2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guardant Health news, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total value of $5,088,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,971,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at $100,326,710.40. This trade represents a 4.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Medina Manuel Hidalgo sold 2,165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,090.16. This trade represents a 71.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 402,691 shares of company stock valued at $23,069,965 in the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GH. 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Guardant Health during the 4th quarter worth $254,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 11,765.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,679 shares of the company's stock worth $7,530,000 after purchasing an additional 17,530 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 175,432 shares of the company's stock worth $7,473,000 after purchasing an additional 8,202 shares during the period. MRA Advisory Group purchased a new position in Guardant Health during the 1st quarter valued at about $651,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 32,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the period. 92.60% of the stock is currently 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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