Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) Now Covered by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 28.68% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on GRDN. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their price target on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research raised Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.20.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of GRDN opened at $34.19 on Monday. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a 12 month low of $19.17 and a 12 month high of $38.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.41 and a beta of 0.86.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.10. Guardian Pharmacy Services had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 31.64%. The firm had revenue of $397.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.04 million. Guardian Pharmacy Services’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Guardian Pharmacy Services will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Ackerman sold 1,103,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total value of $32,747,843.52. Following the sale, the director directly owned 345,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,243,250.64. This represents a 76.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Equity Fund L.P. Cardinal sold 275,728 shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,243,250.64. The trade was a 44.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,726,405 shares of company stock worth $288,679,700 in the last 90 days. 63.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $433,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 65.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 336,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,177,000 after purchasing an additional 133,715 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 40.9% in the third quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 135,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 39,360 shares during the last quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC increased its holdings in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 58.5% in the third quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC now owns 649,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,035,000 after purchasing an additional 239,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 5.6% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 860,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,562,000 after purchasing an additional 45,950 shares during the period.

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.