Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. (NYSE:GRDN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. (NYSE:GRDN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.8333.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research lowered Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research report on Monday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Price Performance

GRDN stock opened at $43.43 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.41. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.08. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a 12 month low of $19.30 and a 12 month high of $43.96.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $336.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.89 million. Guardian Pharmacy Services had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 30.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Guardian Pharmacy Services will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guardian Pharmacy Services news, Director John Ackerman sold 1,103,364 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total transaction of $32,747,843.52. Following the transaction, the director owned 345,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,243,250.64. This represents a 76.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Equity Fund L.P. Cardinal sold 275,728 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total value of $8,183,607.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 345,123 shares in the company, valued at $10,243,250.64. This represents a 44.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,726,405 shares of company stock worth $288,679,700. Corporate insiders own 32.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardian Pharmacy Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GRDN. Boston Partners boosted its position in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 418.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,046,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,922,000 after purchasing an additional 845,048 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 609.5% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 822,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,986,000 after purchasing an additional 706,823 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Guardian Pharmacy Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,126,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 725.2% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,972,000 after buying an additional 300,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aristotle Capital Boston LLC lifted its stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC now owns 649,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,035,000 after buying an additional 239,790 shares in the last quarter.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Company Profile

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.