Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,840,000 shares, a growth of 35.9% from the January 31st total of 5,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Guardant Health in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays started coverage on Guardant Health in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $34.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.21.

Guardant Health Price Performance

Guardant Health stock opened at $40.74 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.09 and its 200 day moving average is $32.01. Guardant Health has a one year low of $15.81 and a one year high of $50.89. The firm has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.44 and a beta of 1.32.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.75) by ($0.15). Guardant Health had a negative return on equity of 19,157.20% and a negative net margin of 59.05%. The firm had revenue of $201.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $192.50 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Guardant Health will post -2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Musa Tariq sold 2,320 shares of Guardant Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $81,200.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,668 shares of company stock worth $95,208. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardant Health

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GH. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $15,624,000. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Guardant Health during the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Guardant Health by 54.6% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 195,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,473,000 after acquiring an additional 68,883 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Guardant Health by 1.1% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Guardant Health in the fourth quarter worth $377,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.