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

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

Several brokerages have commented on GRDN. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research note on Monday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research note on Monday, April 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research note on Thursday, March 12th.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:GRDN opened at $35.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 43.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.09. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a twelve month low of $19.17 and a twelve month high of $41.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.67.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.05. Guardian Pharmacy Services had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 30.72%. The company had revenue of $336.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Guardian Pharmacy Services’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Guardian Pharmacy Services will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Guardian Pharmacy Services

In related news, Director William E. Bindley sold 3,570,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total value of $105,977,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,469,316 shares in the company, valued at $132,649,298.88. The trade was a 44.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Fred Burke sold 671,432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total transaction of $19,928,101.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 840,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,943,457.84. The trade was a 44.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,726,405 shares of company stock worth $288,679,700. Insiders own 32.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardian Pharmacy Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services in the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services in the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services in the 4th quarter worth $75,000.

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.