Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Shares Up 8.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) shot up 8.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $168.71 and last traded at $169.2220. Approximately 454,472 shares traded 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GH shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.70.

Guardant Health Trading Up 6.6%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $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 Transactions at Guardant Health

In related news, CEO Helmy Eltoukhy sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.30, for a total transaction of $12,630,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,012,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,231,669.70. This represents a 4.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Freeman sold 24,406 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total transaction of $2,896,260.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 60,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,124,234.78. The trade was a 28.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 708,681 shares of company stock valued at $90,566,438. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

About Guardant Health

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.