WCM Investment Management LLC Buys 61,800 Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) by 57.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 169,731 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 61,800 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Guardant Health were worth $14,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Guardant Health by 56.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,012,000 after buying an additional 25,831 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Guardant Health during the first quarter worth about $274,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Guardant Health by 15.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 77,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,023,000 after buying an additional 10,538 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Guardant Health by 9.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 632,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,922,000 after buying an additional 54,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Guardant Health by 56.4% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 111,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,800,000 after acquiring an additional 40,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GH. Mizuho upped their price target on Guardant Health from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Guardant Health from $150.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Guardant Health from $135.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Guardant Health from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Guardant Health from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Helmy Eltoukhy sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.30, for a total transaction of $12,630,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,012,919 shares in the company, valued at $254,231,669.70. This trade represents a 4.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 143,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.54, for a total value of $21,674,463.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,881,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,097,657.44. This represents a 7.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 708,565 shares of company stock worth $90,556,597. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Guardant Health Stock Down 5.0%

NASDAQ:GH opened at $148.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a PE ratio of -43.68 and a beta of 1.59. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.35 and a 12-month high of $174.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $135.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.66.

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.