Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on PLMR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Palomar from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Palomar from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Palomar from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.50.

Palomar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLMR opened at $127.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $127.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.40. Palomar has a 52 week low of $107.75 and a 52 week high of $175.85.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.45. Palomar had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $244.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palomar will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO T Christopher Uchida sold 2,103 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.88, for a total value of $252,107.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 11,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,375,383.24. This represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 11,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.88, for a total transaction of $1,376,701.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 91,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,997,431.56. The trade was a 11.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,998 shares of company stock valued at $7,255,669. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palomar

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PLMR. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Palomar by 234.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 798,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,147,000 after purchasing an additional 559,383 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Palomar by 290.2% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 497,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,675,000 after buying an additional 369,697 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Palomar by 81.0% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 738,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,223,000 after buying an additional 330,592 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Palomar by 72.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 785,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,809,000 after acquiring an additional 328,993 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Palomar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,253,000. 90.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Palomar

Palomar Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: PLMR) is a specialty insurance holding company focused on providing medical stop-loss coverage and related administrative services to self-funded employer health plans in the United States. The firm operates through two primary business segments—Medical Stop-Loss and Specialty Program Management—to deliver tailored risk protection and comprehensive program administration.

In its Medical Stop-Loss segment, Palomar underwrites excess and aggregate stop-loss policies designed to shield self-insured employers from catastrophic medical claims that exceed pre-determined retention levels.