Principal Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. $GRDN

Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. (NYSE:GRDN) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 30,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,144,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 26.5% in the third quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 17,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its stake in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 6,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GRDN shares. Zacks Research downgraded Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Guardian Pharmacy Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.83.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Trading Down 4.3%

GRDN stock opened at $39.43 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.71. Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.30 and a 12 month high of $44.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.05.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $336.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.89 million. Guardian Pharmacy Services had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 30.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.