First Light Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)

First Light Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) by 119.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 416,967 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 227,202 shares during the quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC owned 0.34% of Guardant Health worth $12,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Guardant Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $242,000. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the second quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,237,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in Guardant Health by 4.5% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 41,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in Guardant Health in the second quarter worth approximately $1,307,000. 92.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Guardant Health Stock Down 6.4 %

Guardant Health stock opened at $23.49 on Tuesday. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.81 and a 52 week high of $37.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.99 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.13. The company has a quick ratio of 6.07, a current ratio of 6.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.70.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.84) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.74) by ($0.10). Guardant Health had a negative return on equity of 418.21% and a negative net margin of 76.23%. The firm had revenue of $177.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.67) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GH shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Guardant Health from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Guardant Health from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.31.

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.