Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH)

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 5,660 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 175% compared to the typical volume of 2,057 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In related news, insider Kumud Kalia bought 2,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.82 per share, with a total value of $38,972.34. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,706.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC boosted its position in Guardant Health by 137.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guardant Health during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 362.3% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 26.1% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GH opened at $17.34 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.10 and its 200-day moving average is $23.11. Guardant Health has a 52-week low of $15.81 and a 52-week high of $41.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.24 and a current ratio of 6.54. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.05 and a beta of 0.87.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($1.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.93) by ($0.65). The business had revenue of $155.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.71 million. Guardant Health had a negative net margin of 85.02% and a negative return on equity of 301.94%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Guardant Health will post -3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Guardant Health Company Profile

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.