Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) Short Interest Up 35.9% in February

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,840,000 shares, an increase of 35.9% from the January 31st total of 5,770,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Guardant Health from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Monday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Guardant Health from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In other Guardant Health news, Director Musa Tariq sold 2,320 shares of Guardant Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $81,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,660. The trade was a 46.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,668 shares of company stock worth $95,208. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guardant Health

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Guardant Health by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,052,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,205,000 after purchasing an additional 350,606 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 188.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,127,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,325,000 after buying an additional 6,618,785 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 6,419,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,118,000 after buying an additional 419,006 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Guardant Health by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 3,837,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,028,000 after acquiring an additional 76,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,822,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,754,000 after acquiring an additional 29,686 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Guardant Health Price Performance

Guardant Health stock traded up $1.18 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.66. 1,636,471 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,486,165. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.19. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.98 and a beta of 1.50. Guardant Health has a 52-week low of $15.81 and a 52-week high of $50.89.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.90) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.75) by ($0.15). Guardant Health had a negative net margin of 59.05% and a negative return on equity of 19,157.20%. The firm had revenue of $201.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $192.50 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Guardant Health will post -2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

About Guardant Health

Guardant Health, Inc, a precision oncology company, provides blood and tissue tests, data sets, and analytics in the United States and internationally. The company provides Guardant360; Guardant360 LDT; Guardant360 CDx Test; Guardant360 Response Test; Guardant360 TissueNext Test; GuardantINFINITY Test; GuardantConnect, an integrated software-based solution designed for clinical and biopharmaceutical customers to connect patients tested with assays with actionable alterations with potentially relevant clinical studies; GuardantOMNI Test for advanced stage cancer; and GuardantINFORM, an in-silico research platform for tumor evolution and treatment resistance across various biomarker-driven cancers.