Guardian Pharmacy Services is collecting analyst buy ratings while options traders load up on puts. The divergence sharpens with earnings just one week away.
B of A Securities initiated coverage on April 27 with a Buy and a $42 target. That follows Truist Securities raising its target to $43 from $38 on April 13. Jefferies initiated with a Buy and a $44 target in late March. All five analysts covering the stock rate it Buy, with a consensus target of $40.83. The stock closed at $37.57 on April 29 — about 9% below that mean target.
The bull case centres on Guardian's position in long-term care pharmacy, a fragmented market where the company's high-touch model and clean balance sheet give it room to grow through acquisition.
The put-call ratio stands at 4.45 — well above its 20-day mean of 2.78. The ratio hit 5.79 on April 24, the highest reading since early April. With the 52-week high at 10.71, the current level is elevated but not extreme by GRDN's own history. Still, the directional message is clear: options traders are tilting heavily bearish into the May 6 earnings date.
Short interest fell 13.6% over the past week to 7.03% of free float — roughly 2.55 million shares. The drop suggests some short sellers covered positions ahead of the print. Yet the cost to borrow jumped 147% week-over-week to 0.61%. That's an unusual combination. Availability remains wide, so the CTB spike reflects pricing pressure rather than a shortage of lendable shares.
The ORTEX short score sits at 57.4, down from 60.2 a week ago — consistent with the reduction in shorts outstanding.
The top holders tell their own story. Bindley Capital Partners trimmed 3.57 million shares as of late March. The CFO sold $5.6 million of stock on March 20. The CEO and co-founder Fred Burke sold $19.9 million the same day. Those sales came at $29.68 — the stock has since risen roughly 27% to $37.57.
BlackRock added 194,817 shares through March 31. Vanguard added 298,359.
Earnings land May 6. The past two prints produced a 5.2% one-day gain and a 1.1% one-day drop respectively — modest moves. The elevated put-call ratio suggests the options market is pricing in downside risk. Whether the analyst consensus or the options positioning proves correct should be clear by May 7.
Data summary
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