Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Coverage Initiated at Craig Hallum

Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Craig Hallum’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 63.17% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Guardant Health from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Guardant Health from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Guardant Health from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.27.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

GH stock opened at $17.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.01 and a beta of 0.87. Guardant Health has a 1 year low of $15.81 and a 1 year high of $41.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.18, a current ratio of 6.54 and a quick ratio of 6.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.00.

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

Insider Activity

In other Guardant Health news, insider Kumud Kalia acquired 2,187 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.82 per share, for a total transaction of $38,972.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,706.04. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $167,137,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Guardant Health by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,001,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,452 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,520,000. Cadian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,206,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Guardant Health by 27.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,890,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,046,000 after acquiring an additional 403,475 shares during the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.