Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) Short Interest Down 5.6% in December

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,790,000 shares, a drop of 5.6% from the December 15th total of 8,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GH. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Guardant Health has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.60.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GH opened at $36.66 on Friday. Guardant Health has a twelve month low of $15.81 and a twelve month high of $39.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.76 and a 200-day moving average of $28.95.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.88) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by ($0.33). Guardant Health had a negative net margin of 74.02% and a negative return on equity of 1,200.44%. The firm 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 company posted ($0.73) earnings per share. Guardant Health’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Guardant Health will post -3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Guardant Health news, Director Musa Tariq sold 2,320 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 2,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,660. This represents a 46.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 2,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.90, for a total transaction of $86,590.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,675.20. The trade was a 27.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,432 shares of company stock valued at $175,423. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guardant Health

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GH. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Guardant Health by 21.8% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its holdings in Guardant Health by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 11,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Guardant Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wexford Capital LP grew its holdings in Guardant Health by 13.0% during the third quarter. Wexford Capital LP now owns 10,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Guardant Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.