Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $28.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Guardant Health traded as low as $16.28 and last traded at $16.36, with a volume of 170032 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.06.

GH has been the subject of a number of other reports. 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 Guardant Health from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Guardant Health from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In related news, insider Kumud Kalia purchased 2,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.82 per share, for a total transaction of $38,972.34. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at $226,706.04. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,130,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,084,000 after acquiring an additional 180,424 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth about $167,137,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Guardant Health by 71.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,081,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,607,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,240 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Guardant Health by 35.2% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,463,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,799,000 after buying an additional 1,161,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Guardant Health by 113.8% in the 2nd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 4,008,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,508,000 after buying an additional 2,133,582 shares during the period. 92.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Guardant Health Stock Up 1.4 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.40. The company has a current ratio of 6.54, a quick ratio of 6.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 0.87.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last issued 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). Guardant Health had a negative net margin of 85.02% and a negative return on equity of 301.94%. The business had revenue of $155.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.71 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.