Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Shares Down 5.8%

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH – Get Rating)’s stock price dropped 5.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $27.98 and last traded at $28.07. Approximately 510,120 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 1,910,284 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Friday, May 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $70.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Guardant Health from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.27.

Guardant Health Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $24.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.90, a quick ratio of 5.18 and a current ratio of 5.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of -4.29 and a beta of 0.82.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported ($1.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.40) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $126.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.43 million. Guardant Health had a negative net margin of 137.90% and a negative return on equity of 530.36%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -4.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Guardant Health news, CEO Amirali Talasaz bought 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.66 per share, for a total transaction of $1,026,400.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,893,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,596,062.70. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Helmy Eltoukhy purchased 8,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $224,890.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,049,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,587,573.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz purchased 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.66 per share, for a total transaction of $1,026,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,893,845 shares in the company, valued at $48,596,062.70. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Impact Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the first quarter worth approximately $219,000. IMA Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the first quarter worth approximately $685,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the first quarter worth approximately $2,374,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the first quarter worth approximately $6,095,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 3.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,456,000 after acquiring an additional 49,258 shares during the last quarter. 90.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Guardant Health Company Profile

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Guardant Health, Inc is a precision oncology company engaged in the treatment of cancer through the use of proprietary blood-based tests, vast data sets, and advanced analytics. Its solutions include treatment selection, recurrence detection, and early detection. The company was founded by Helmy Eltoukhy, AmirAli H.