Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $121.01 and last traded at $119.8680, with a volume of 953326 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $114.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GH shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Guardant Health from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Guardant Health from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Guardant Health in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Guardant Health from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Guardant Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.00.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.98 and its 200 day moving average is $98.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a PE ratio of -34.81 and a beta of 1.48.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $281.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.74 million. Guardant Health’s revenue was up 39.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.62) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Guardant Health

In related news, Director Medina Manuel Hidalgo sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.54, for a total value of $119,002.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,207.22. This trade represents a 52.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Terilyn J. Monroe sold 3,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.68, for a total value of $355,149.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,990 shares in the company, valued at $1,945,353.20. This represents a 15.44% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 58,712 shares of company stock worth $5,802,899. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Guardant Health Company Profile

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.