Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Sets New 12-Month Low on Disappointing Earnings

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $46.76 and last traded at $47.23, with a volume of 3323564 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.53.

The company reported ($0.49) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $203.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.91 million. Guardant Health had a negative return on equity of 19,157.20% and a negative net margin of 59.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.46) earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on GH. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Guardant Health from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GH. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Guardant Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Guardant Health by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Guardant Health during the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. 92.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Guardant Health Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.73 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.94.

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.