Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 31,064 Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) by 20.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 184,846 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,064 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Guardant Health were worth $17,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Guardant Health during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Guardant Health in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Guardant Health by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EFG International AG bought a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

Guardant Health Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ GH opened at $150.75 on Thursday. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.35 and a 12-month high of $174.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.36. The company has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.47 and a beta of 1.59.

Insider Activity at Guardant Health

In other news, insider Chris Freeman sold 24,406 shares of Guardant Health stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total value of $2,896,260.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 60,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,124,234.78. This trade represents a 28.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 210,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.89, for a total value of $23,076,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,886,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,307,924.56. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 708,565 shares of company stock valued at $90,556,597 in the last three months. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on GH shares. Barclays raised their target price on Guardant Health from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $127.00 target price on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Guardant Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.04.

Guardant Health Company Profile

Guardant Health, Inc is a precision oncology company specializing in blood-based cancer diagnostics. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company develops non-invasive tests that use circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to profile genomic alterations in patients with solid tumors. Guardant Health’s mission is to advance cancer care by providing actionable data to clinicians, pharmaceutical partners and researchers worldwide.

The company’s flagship product, Guardant360, is a next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay designed to detect mutations, copy number variations and select fusions in more than 70 cancer-related genes.