Short Interest in Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. (NYSE:GRDN) Rises By 48.8%

Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. (NYSE:GRDN) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,914,959 shares, a growth of 48.8% from the March 15th total of 1,959,541 shares. Approximately 6.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 783,270 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guardian Pharmacy Services news, Director William E. Bindley sold 3,570,677 shares of the company’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 $105,977,693.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,469,316 shares in the company, valued at $132,649,298.88. This represents a 44.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Ackerman sold 1,103,364 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 345,123 shares in the company, valued at $10,243,250.64. This represents a 76.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,726,405 shares of company stock worth $288,679,700. 32.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guardian Pharmacy Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Valiant Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Valiant Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,232,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,085,000 after buying an additional 167,741 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,143,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000,000 after buying an additional 36,072 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,056,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,705,000 after buying an additional 80,033 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,055,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,675,000 after buying an additional 88,296 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,054,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,995,000 after buying an additional 7,759 shares during the period.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Stock Performance

GRDN traded down $1.77 on Tuesday, hitting $37.72. 438,439 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 382,829. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.86. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a 12 month low of $19.17 and a 12 month high of $41.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 48.99 and a beta of 0.47.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $397.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.04 million. The firm’s revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Guardian Pharmacy Services will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GRDN shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research report on Monday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.20.

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.