Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $252,000 Holdings in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) by 31.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,966 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,976 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Guardant Health were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 31.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,280,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,973,000 after acquiring an additional 309,157 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 2.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,436,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,925,000 after purchasing an additional 305,372 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its position in shares of Guardant Health by 63.8% during the second quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 620,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,931,000 after buying an additional 241,800 shares during the period. First Light Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guardant Health by 119.7% during the second quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 416,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,042,000 after buying an additional 227,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its position in Guardant Health by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 552,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,674,000 after buying an additional 178,882 shares during the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Guardant Health Price Performance

NASDAQ:GH opened at $35.40 on Tuesday. Guardant Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.81 and a 12-month high of $37.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.35 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.95. The company has a quick ratio of 5.85, a current ratio of 6.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.70.

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.88) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by ($0.33). Guardant Health had a negative net margin of 74.02% and a negative return on equity of 1,200.44%. The business had revenue of $191.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.73) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Guardant Health, Inc. will post -3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GH. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Guardant Health from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Guardant Health from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Guardant Health from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Meghan V. Joyce sold 2,896 shares of Guardant Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.90, for a total transaction of $86,590.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,675.20. This trade represents a 27.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

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.