Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $42.00 price target, implying roughly an 11.9% upside from the prior close.
• Guardian Pharmacy beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.37 (vs. $0.27 est.) and revenue of $397.6M—up 17.4% year-over-year—while analysts’ consensus remains a Buy with a $40.50 average price target.
• Significant insider selling occurred on March 20 (directors sold millions of shares); insiders disposed of 9.73M shares (~$288.7M) over the last 90 days, though insiders still own about 32.96% of the company.

Research analysts at Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America's price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.93% from the stock's previous close.

GRDN has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer raised 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 note on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.50.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Price Performance

NYSE GRDN opened at $37.52 on Monday. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a fifty-two week low of $19.17 and a fifty-two week high of $41.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 48.73 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.64.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Guardian Pharmacy Services will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardian Pharmacy Services

In related news, Director Thomas J. Salentine, Jr. sold 3,570,677 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 $105,977,693.36. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ackerman sold 1,103,364 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total transaction of $32,747,843.52. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 345,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,243,250.64. This represents a 76.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,726,405 shares of company stock valued at $288,679,700 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 32.96% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GRDN. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 418.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,046,877 shares of the company's stock worth $26,922,000 after buying an additional 845,048 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Guardian Pharmacy Services during the fourth quarter worth $19,126,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 725.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC grew its stake in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC now owns 649,463 shares of the company's stock worth $17,035,000 after acquiring an additional 239,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,048,136 shares of the company's stock worth $31,538,000 after acquiring an additional 187,963 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.

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