Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. (NYSE:GRDN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. (NYSE:GRDN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.3333.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GRDN. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research report on Monday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Guardian Pharmacy Services news, Director John Ackerman sold 1,103,364 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total value of $32,747,843.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 345,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,243,250.64. This trade represents a 76.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David K. Morris sold 187,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total transaction of $5,575,536.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 254,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,552,728.96. The trade was a 42.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 9,726,405 shares of company stock valued at $288,679,700 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 32.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valiant Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Valiant Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,232,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,085,000 after purchasing an additional 167,741 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,143,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000,000 after purchasing an additional 36,072 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,056,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,705,000 after purchasing an additional 80,033 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,055,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,675,000 after purchasing an additional 88,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,054,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,995,000 after purchasing an additional 7,759 shares during the last quarter.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of GRDN opened at $43.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 51.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.08. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a 12-month low of $19.17 and a 12-month high of $43.86.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $336.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.89 million. Guardian Pharmacy Services had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 30.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Guardian Pharmacy Services will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Guardian Pharmacy Services

Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc, a pharmacy service company, provides a suite of technology-enabled services designed to help residents of long-term health care facilities (LTCFs) in the United States. Its individualized clinical, drug dispensing, and administration capabilities are used to serve the needs of residents in lower acuity LTCFs, such as assisted living facilities and behavioral health facilities and group homes. The company’s Guardian Compass includes dashboards created using data from its data warehouse to help its local pharmacies plan, track, and optimize their business operations; and GuardianShield Programs for LTCFs.