Traders Purchase Large Volume of Guardant Health Call Options (NASDAQ:GH)

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 15,891 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 967% compared to the average daily volume of 1,490 call options.

Guardant Health Trading Up 14.9 %

Guardant Health stock traded up $2.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $20.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,564,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,771,166. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.18, a current ratio of 6.54 and a quick ratio of 6.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.49 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.46. Guardant Health has a 12 month low of $16.92 and a 12 month high of $41.06.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($1.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by ($0.65). The firm had revenue of $155.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Guardant Health will post -3.49 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Guardant Health from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Thursday, December 14th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.30.

Insider Activity at Guardant Health

In other news, insider Kumud Kalia purchased 2,187 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.82 per share, with a total value of $38,972.34. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,706.04. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 6.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardant Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,130,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,084,000 after buying an additional 180,424 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Guardant Health by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 834,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,562,000 after purchasing an additional 161,986 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Guardant Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new position in Guardant Health in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,868,000. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its position in Guardant Health by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 3,888,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,174,000 after acquiring an additional 298,616 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.60% of the company’s stock.

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.