Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Palomar from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore initiated coverage on Palomar in a report on Monday, February 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Palomar from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Palomar from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Palomar has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.00.

Palomar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLMR opened at $120.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 0.44. Palomar has a 1 year low of $107.75 and a 1 year high of $175.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.20.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.18. Palomar had a net margin of 22.50% and a return on equity of 22.77%. The company had revenue of $253.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Palomar’s quarterly revenue was up 62.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Palomar will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palomar

In other Palomar news, President Jon Christianson sold 1,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.88, for a total transaction of $238,681.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 62,985 shares in the company, valued at $7,550,641.80. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 11,484 shares of the company’s 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 $1,376,701.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 91,737 shares in the company, valued at $10,997,431.56. This trade represents a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 58,999 shares of company stock valued at $7,253,229. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palomar

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLMR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palomar by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,698,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,620,000 after buying an additional 67,038 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Palomar by 2.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 846,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,544,000 after acquiring an additional 17,188 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in Palomar by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 840,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,229,000 after acquiring an additional 101,698 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Palomar by 234.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 798,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,147,000 after purchasing an additional 559,383 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Palomar by 250.1% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 795,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,237,000 after purchasing an additional 568,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.25% of the company’s stock.

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.