Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock.

GRDN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Guardian Pharmacy Services currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.20.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Stock Up 9.1%

Shares of GRDN stock opened at $37.25 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.02. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a 12-month low of $19.17 and a 12-month high of $38.12. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.38 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Insider Activity at Guardian Pharmacy Services

In related news, Director John Ackerman sold 1,103,364 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 345,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,243,250.64. This trade represents a 76.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Equity Fund L.P. Cardinal sold 275,728 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 value of $8,183,607.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 345,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 9,726,405 shares of company stock valued at $288,679,700 in the last quarter. 63.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardian Pharmacy Services

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services in the first quarter worth $233,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 65.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 336,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,177,000 after acquiring an additional 133,715 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its position in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 76.8% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 2,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank bought a new position in Guardian Pharmacy Services in the 2nd quarter worth $693,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956 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.