Guardant Health, Inc. $GH Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) by 43.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 337,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 264,700 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.25% of Guardant Health worth $31,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Guardant Health by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,160,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,242,101,000 after buying an additional 251,939 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,636,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414,441 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,361,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,348,000 after acquiring an additional 435,232 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Guardant Health by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,213,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,297,000 after acquiring an additional 277,001 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,441,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,398,000 after acquiring an additional 72,162 shares during the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Guardant Health Stock Performance

Shares of GH opened at $143.62 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.49. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.35 and a 1 year high of $174.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a PE ratio of -42.37 and a beta of 1.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 143,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.54, for a total transaction of $21,674,463.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,881,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $285,097,657.44. This represents a 7.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Michael Brian Bell sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.62, for a total transaction of $257,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 47,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,110,607.58. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 708,565 shares of company stock worth $90,556,597 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America upped their price target on Guardant Health from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Guardant Health in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group set a $150.00 price objective on Guardant Health in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guardant Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.04.

About Guardant Health

Guardant Health, Inc is a precision oncology company specializing in blood-based cancer diagnostics. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company develops non-invasive tests that use circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to profile genomic alterations in patients with solid tumors. Guardant Health’s mission is to advance cancer care by providing actionable data to clinicians, pharmaceutical partners and researchers worldwide.

The company’s flagship product, Guardant360, is a next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay designed to detect mutations, copy number variations and select fusions in more than 70 cancer-related genes.