Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. (NYSE:GRDN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $38.28 and last traded at $37.92, with a volume of 140894 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group reiterated 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 report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guardian Pharmacy Services currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.20.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Stock Up 0.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $33.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.13.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $397.62 million during 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 was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William E. Bindley sold 3,570,677 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total transaction of $105,977,693.36. Following the sale, the director owned 4,469,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,649,298.88. This represents a 44.41% 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, insider Kendall Forbes sold 346,672 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total transaction of $10,289,224.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 453,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,452,638.08. This trade represents a 43.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,726,405 shares of company stock worth $288,679,700. 63.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guardian Pharmacy Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 418.7% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,046,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,922,000 after acquiring an additional 845,048 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,126,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 725.2% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,972,000 after acquiring an additional 300,587 shares during the last quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC raised its position in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 58.5% during 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 period. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its position in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,048,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,538,000 after purchasing an additional 187,963 shares during the period.

About Guardian Pharmacy Services

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.