Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Trims Position in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,699 shares during the quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned 0.07% of Guardant Health worth $1,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Guardant Health by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Guardant Health by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in Guardant Health by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 8,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Guardant Health by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 29,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Guardant Health by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 18,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GH. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Friday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Guardant Health in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Guardant Health from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Guardant Health in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.83.

Guardant Health Price Performance

Shares of GH traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $27.65. 1,463,689 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,008,753. The company has a quick ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 5.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of -7.05 and a beta of 1.13. Guardant Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.81 and a fifty-two week high of $41.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.97.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.94) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.94). Guardant Health had a negative return on equity of 246.47% and a negative net margin of 76.34%. The firm had revenue of $168.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.51 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.