Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Sets New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.06.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler dropped 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. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Guardant Health from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. 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. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Guardant Health news, insider Kumud Kalia bought 2,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.82 per share, for a total transaction of $38,972.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,706.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,950,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,565,000 after acquiring an additional 146,902 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Guardant Health by 2.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 568,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,840,000 after purchasing an additional 16,111 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,689,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 159,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,732,000 after buying an additional 8,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,211,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,909,000 after buying an additional 292,888 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Guardant Health Stock Down 3.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 6.24, a current ratio of 6.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.99 and a beta of 0.87.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $155.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.71 million. Guardant Health had a negative net margin of 85.02% and a negative return on equity of 301.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.49 EPS for the current fiscal 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.