Franklin Resources Inc. Has $343.35 Million Holdings in Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,361,547 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 435,232 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 2.67% of Guardant Health worth $343,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Guardant Health by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 210,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.89, for a total transaction of $23,076,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,886,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,307,924.56. This trade represents a 10.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Helmy Eltoukhy sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.30, for a total value of $12,630,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,012,919 shares in the company, valued at $254,231,669.70. This represents a 4.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 452,238 shares of company stock worth $51,425,612 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Guardant Health Price Performance

GH stock opened at $124.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.84 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.32. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.35 and a 1 year high of $134.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GH shares. BTIG Research set a $160.00 target price on Guardant Health and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.80.

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.