Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Trading Up 5.6% – Should You Buy?

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR)’s share price shot up 5.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $130.37 and last traded at $129.8870. 29,895 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 196,121 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PLMR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Palomar from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Palomar from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Palomar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Palomar from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Six equities research 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.50.

Palomar Trading Up 5.5%

The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.44.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $244.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.98 million. Palomar had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.93%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palomar

In other Palomar news, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 11,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 directly owned 91,737 shares in the company, valued at $10,997,431.56. This represents a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Jon Christianson sold 1,991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.88, for a total value of $238,681.08. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 62,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,550,641.80. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 58,998 shares of company stock worth $7,255,669. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palomar in the fourth quarter valued at about $206,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Palomar in the fourth quarter worth about $443,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Palomar in the fourth quarter worth about $354,000. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in Palomar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,318,000. Finally, F m Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palomar by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. F m Investments LLC now owns 49,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,693,000 after acquiring an additional 7,529 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.25% of the company’s stock.

Palomar Company Profile

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.