Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Director Alex Azar II Sells 826 Shares

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) Director Alex Azar II sold 826 shares of Guardant Health stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $144,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,375. This represents a 50.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

Shares of GH opened at $183.10 on Friday. Guardant Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.38 and a fifty-two week high of $183.51. The company has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.46 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.10.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by $0.34. The company had revenue of $334.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $314.23 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 44.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.44) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.98 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GH. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Guardant Health from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $175.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $188.12.

Key Headlines Impacting Guardant Health

Here are the key news stories impacting Guardant Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Guardant Health was described as nearing a technical buy point as its sales outlook improves, reinforcing expectations for continued growth in its precision-oncology testing business. Guardant Health Nears Buy Point As Sales Outlook Brightens
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly performance remains a key catalyst: revenue increased 44.3% year over year to about $335 million and exceeded analyst expectations, while the adjusted loss of $0.42 per share was narrower than the anticipated $0.76 loss. The results support the bullish sales narrative. Testing and diagnostics services stocks Q2 results
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment is broadly favorable. Twenty-four analysts rate the stock Buy, one rates it Strong Buy and one rates it Sell; the average price target is approximately $188.12, with targets as high as $200. Guardant Health analyst ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: A comparison article examining Guardant Health and Joint did not identify a major new operating catalyst for GH, leaving the investment case centered primarily on growth, valuation and execution. Guardant Health and Joint comparison
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders reported sales executed around $175-$178 per share. Director Steve Krognes sold 6,674 shares worth about $1.17 million, CTO Darya Chudova sold 7,738 shares worth about $1.38 million, and Director Alex Azar II sold 826 shares worth about $145,000. These transactions reduce insider ownership and may encourage profit-taking, although some were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. Guardant Health insider sales

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Revere Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the second quarter valued at about $3,994,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Guardant Health during the second quarter worth $216,000. First Light Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Guardant Health by 57.5% in the second quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 441,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,251,000 after purchasing an additional 161,287 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 43.7% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 24,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,690,000 after buying an additional 7,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 755.0% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

About Guardant Health

Guardant Health, Inc (NASDAQ:GH) is a precision oncology company that develops blood-based diagnostic tests designed to help detect cancer, guide treatment decisions and monitor patients over time. Its liquid biopsy technologies analyze tumor-related signals in blood, reducing the need for tissue biopsies in certain clinical and research settings.

The company’s products include Guardant360 tests, which profile advanced cancers and can help identify potentially actionable genomic alterations; Guardant Reveal, which is used to assess residual disease and recurrence risk; and Guardant Shield, a blood-based screening test for colorectal cancer.