Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Lowered to Hold Rating by Evercore ISI

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) was downgraded by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on GH. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Guardant Health from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Guardant Health from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on Guardant Health from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Guardant Health from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.71.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

Shares of GH stock opened at $101.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $12.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.74 and a beta of 1.58. Guardant Health has a 52 week low of $33.75 and a 52 week high of $112.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.77.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.09. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.88) EPS. Guardant Health’s quarterly revenue was up 38.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Guardant Health will post -2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In other Guardant Health news, Director Ian T. Clark sold 28,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.19, for a total value of $3,066,813.09. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,055,928.69. The trade was a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Medina Manuel Hidalgo sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $131,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 797 shares in the company, valued at $83,685. The trade was a 61.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 426,663 shares of company stock valued at $44,508,069. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Guardant Health by 50.5% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Guardant Health by 120.1% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 358.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 706 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 153.5% during the 3rd quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in 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.