Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $46.09, but opened at $44.52. Guardant Health shares last traded at $44.77, with a volume of 2,540,438 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Guardant Health in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on Guardant Health from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Guardant Health from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Guardant Health from $36.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.63.

Guardant Health Stock Down 1.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of -10.70 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.59.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.88) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by ($0.33). Guardant Health had a negative return on equity of 1,200.44% and a negative net margin of 74.02%. The company had revenue of $191.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.73) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Guardant Health news, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 2,896 shares of Guardant Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.90, for a total value of $86,590.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $228,675.20. The trade was a 27.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Musa Tariq sold 2,320 shares of Guardant Health stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $81,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,660. This trade represents a 46.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,548 shares of company stock valued at $179,782. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GH. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the 3rd quarter worth about $15,624,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Guardant Health by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 195,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,473,000 after purchasing an additional 68,883 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Guardant Health by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,822,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,754,000 after purchasing an additional 29,686 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Guardant Health by 1,282.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,226,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pier Capital LLC raised its stake in Guardant Health by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 158,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,634,000 after purchasing an additional 42,575 shares in the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.