The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 569,766 Shares of Guardant Health, Inc. $GH

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) by 89.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,205,701 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 569,766 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.91% of Guardant Health worth $111,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GH. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of Guardant Health by 33.1% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 559 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Xponance LLC raised its stake in Guardant Health by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 9,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S lifted its position in Guardant Health by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Guardant Health Price Performance

Shares of GH opened at $143.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.37 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.49. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.35 and a 1 year high of $174.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Amirali Talasaz sold 210,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.89, for a total value of $23,076,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,886,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,307,924.56. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Chris Freeman sold 24,406 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total transaction of $2,896,260.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 60,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,124,234.78. This trade represents a 28.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 708,565 shares of company stock valued at $90,556,597. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GH shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Guardant Health from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Guardant Health from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Guardant Health in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Guardant Health in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.04.

Guardant Health Profile

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.