California State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 20,999,326 Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) by 16,079.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,129,925 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,999,326 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.16% of Guardant Health worth $3,170,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Orbimed Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Guardant Health in the first quarter worth $40,199,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the fourth quarter valued at $1,664,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Guardant Health during the second quarter valued at $1,772,000. Ninepoint Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the second quarter worth about $2,853,000. Finally, SWS Partners bought a new position in shares of Guardant Health in the second quarter worth about $11,190,000. 92.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $135.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.12.

Guardant Health Trading Down 2.3%

GH opened at $159.03 on Friday. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.40 and a 12-month high of $176.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.41. The company has a market capitalization of $21.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.57 and a beta of 1.57.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $334.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.44) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 44.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -2.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardant Health

In other news, Director Ian T. Clark sold 14,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.92, for a total value of $2,253,485.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $472,787. This represents a 82.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Freeman sold 63,605 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.58, for a total transaction of $10,786,135.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 65,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,086,122.92. The trade was a 49.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 427,024 shares of company stock worth $67,113,285. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Guardant Health

Guardant Health, Inc (NASDAQ:GH) is a precision oncology company that develops blood-based diagnostic tests designed to help detect cancer, guide treatment decisions and monitor patients over time. Its liquid biopsy technologies analyze tumor-related signals in blood, reducing the need for tissue biopsies in certain clinical and research settings.

The company’s products include Guardant360 tests, which profile advanced cancers and can help identify potentially actionable genomic alterations; Guardant Reveal, which is used to assess residual disease and recurrence risk; and Guardant Shield, a blood-based screening test for colorectal cancer.