Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Guardian Pharmacy Services from a "strong-buy" to a "buy," though the consensus analyst rating remains Buy with a consensus price target of $39.20.
• Guardian reported a strong quarter, posting $0.37 EPS vs. $0.27 expected and $397.6M in revenue (up 17.4% year-over-year), and currently carries a $2.48B market cap with a P/E of 50.9.
• Insider selling has been heavy: directors sold large blocks (e.g., 1,103,364 and 346,672 shares) and insiders sold 9,726,405 shares worth about $288.7M in the last 90 days, though insiders still own roughly 32.96% of the stock.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

GRDN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stephens raised their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised Guardian Pharmacy Services from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Guardian Pharmacy Services in a report on Monday, March 30th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Guardian Pharmacy Services presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.20.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Trading Down 3.6%

GRDN opened at $39.19 on Friday. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a 12-month low of $19.17 and a 12-month high of $41.36. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $34.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.69. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.90 and a beta of 0.47.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 31.64% and a net margin of 3.40%.The company had revenue of $397.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $390.04 million. The company's revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Guardian Pharmacy Services will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Guardian Pharmacy Services

In related news, Director John Ackerman sold 1,103,364 shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 345,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,243,250.64. This trade represents a 76.17% 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 this hyperlink. Also, insider Kendall Forbes sold 346,672 shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total value of $10,289,224.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 453,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,452,638.08. This represents a 43.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 9,726,405 shares of company stock valued at $288,679,700 in the last 90 days. 32.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in Guardian Pharmacy Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 26.5% during the third quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Guardian Pharmacy Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Guardian Pharmacy Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Guardian Pharmacy Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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.

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