Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) Shares Up 5.7% – Should You Buy?

Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. (NYSE:GRDN)’s stock price rose 5.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $36.39 and last traded at $36.1020. Approximately 65,811 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 335,240 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GRDN. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Guardian Pharmacy Services presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.20.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Stock Up 1.2%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.27 and a 200 day moving average of $30.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.47 and a beta of 0.86.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.10. Guardian Pharmacy Services had a return on equity of 31.64% and a net margin of 3.40%.The company had revenue of $397.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $390.04 million. Guardian Pharmacy Services’s revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardian Pharmacy Services

In related 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Fred Burke sold 671,432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total transaction of $19,928,101.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 840,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,943,457.84. This represents a 44.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,726,405 shares of company stock worth $288,679,700. 63.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guardian Pharmacy Services

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,718 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services during the fourth quarter worth $348,000. Valiant Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Valiant Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,232,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,085,000 after acquiring an additional 167,741 shares during the period. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $333,000. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP grew its stake in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 94.8% in the fourth quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 31,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 15,218 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.