Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $56.80, but opened at $55.22. Guardant Health shares last traded at $55.25, with a volume of 213,262 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CEO Helmy Eltoukhy sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.45, for a total value of $17,835,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,123,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,242,015.55. This trade represents a 12.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Guardant Health to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $58.24.

Guardant Health Stock Down 3.3%

The firm has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.39 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.65.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $232.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.19 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.84) EPS. Guardant Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Guardant Health

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 96.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 155,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,739,000 after buying an additional 76,124 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $547,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $401,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 67,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,052,000 after buying an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

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.